Former USA Gymnastics Doctor Charged With Sexual Assault
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LANSING, Mich. (CBSMiami/AP) — A doctor who specialized in treating female gymnasts at Michigan State University and through the elite USA Gymnastics organization has been charged with sexual assault.
Online records show Dr. Larry Nasser is facing nine charges in Ingham County, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2015 against a victim under age 13.
Nasser is also charged in nearby Eaton County, where three females say he molested them with his hands at a gymnastics club during treatments for various injuries, according to a police affidavit. They were young girls or teens at the time.
No other details about Nasser's accusers were immediately available.
Attorney General Bill Schuette plans to talk to reporters at a 2:30 p.m. news conference. A message seeking comment was left for Nassar's lawyer.
Nassar, 53, had a clinic at Michigan State, in Ingham County, where he treated members of the gymnastics team and younger regional gymnasts. He also was a doctor for USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Dozens of women and girls say they were assaulted. Nassar denies the allegations.
In separate criminal cases filed in 2016, he's charged with possessing child pornography and molesting the daughter of family friends. Those cases are pending, and Nassar is in jail without bond.
Nassar was fired by Michigan State in September after the school said he violated restrictions that were put on his treatments, following a 2014 complaint. Since then, he has been the target of civil lawsuits, along with Michigan State and USA Gymnastics.
After learning that he would be fired, Nassar sent an email to his medical school bosses.
"I understand your position and appreciate all the support you have given me," he wrote on Sept. 18. "My heart is breaking but I will stay strong in my Faith and with the support of my family and my friends I will overcome this."
Attorneys representing women and girls say Nassar assaulted them during treatments for back and hip pain. The allegations go back many years. Nassar's accusers include 2000 Olympian Jamie Dantzscher.
"He would put his fingers inside of me, move my leg around," Dantzscher told "60 Minutes" on Sunday. "He would tell me I was going to feel a pop and that that would put my hips back and help my back pain."
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