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Father who lunged at Larry Nassar in court: I want to make it clear I’m no hero

Posted at 10:25 PM, Feb 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-02 22:25:28-05

LANSING, Mich-- The father who charged at Larry Nassar in court after hearing the details of what he did to his daughters, held a press conference in Lansing Friday evening.

"When I had to hear what was written in those statements, and I have to look over at Larry Nassar shaking his head, that’s when I lost control," said Randall Margraves, whose three daughters were all sexually abused by the former sports doctor.

Friday was Margraves' first time hearing in detail what happened to his daughters.  He was removed from court after being tackled and handcuffed by officers. He later apologized. Following the incident, Judge Janice Cunningham said a punishment wouldn't be appropriate based on the crimes committed by Nassar and the anguish felt by families.

"I’m not advocating everyone should do that. I feel very remorseful, very apologetic. I was embarrassed," said Margraves.

During Friday's press conference, Margraves spoke about his feelings that he may have failed his daughters.

"I allowed myself to take this advice, I fell for the Michigan State hype," Margraves said about bringing his daughters to Larry Nassar for athletic injuries. "I was blind to the fancy degrees hanging on the office wall and I delivered, unintentionally my three daughters to a demon who had his own twisted and sick agenda for his own demented desires."

"He acted in a way I think most fathers would have done and wanted to do in a situation like this," said Margraves' daughter, Morgan during Friday's press conference. "We don’t want this to be a distraction from the real issues. My sisters and I are proud to stand with all the women who have shared their stories over the past few days and we owe them a debt of gratitude."

Randall Margraves said he has respect for all of the survivors of Larry Nassar and hopes the scandal surrounding him, USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University will now spark change.

"Certainly there needs to be changes there. The survivors and victims need to be taken more serious and these accusations that come out need to be addressed immediately, not take six months or a year or five years to decide if they’re false or positive," said Margraves.

Larry Nassar has already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography and 40 to 175 years for criminal sex abuse charges in Ingham County. His sentencing in Eaton County began on Wednesday and is expected to last into next week.

So far, more than 265 victims have come forward against Nassar.