The Latest on the sentencing of former sports doctor who sexually assaulted athletes (all times local):
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The Latest on the sentencing of former sports doctor who sexually assaulted athletes (all times local):
5 p.m.
Calls are growing for Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon to resign over allegations that the school mishandled complaints about a campus doctor who sexually assaulted young gymnasts.
Three legislative leaders called for Simon to resign or be fired Thursday, as victims continued speaking at Larry Nassar ’s sentencing in a courtroom blocks from the state Capitol. A fourth leader previously called for Simon’s resignation.
House Democratic Leader Sam Singh is from East Lansing, where the school is based. He says a lack of leadership at Michigan State “allowed victims to suffer in silence for far too long.”
The top two state Senate leaders say they have lost confidence in Simon.
A university spokesman says the board of trustees appreciates lawmakers’ opinions but still supports Simon, who attended the sentencing Wednesday.
Nassar will not be sentenced until next week to accommodate the many victims who want to speak.
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11:10 a.m.
A Michigan judge has heard from two Olympic gymnasts during a third day of gripping statements from young women who were sexually abused by a sports doctor.
A prosecutor read a statement from McKayla Maroney, who won gold and silver medals at the 2012 Olympics. She says Larry Nassar “left scars on (her) psyche that may never go away.”
Nassar could be sentenced Friday. He admits molesting gymnasts with his hands while working at Michigan State University and at a Lansing-area club. He also was team doctor at USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has been hearing from victims since Tuesday. Jamie Dantzscher, a 2000 Olympian, spoke Thursday.
The judge said Nassar wrote a letter complaining about the hearing. She dismissed it as “mumbo jumbo.”
