McKayla Maroney wants Larry Nassar to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Maroney, who released a statement in October alleging the former USA Gymnastics doctor molested her while she was on the team, wrote a victim impact statement detailing the alleged sexual abuse and its psychological impact. Her testimony, which came in the form of a letter written to the federal judge presiding over Nassar’s case, was made public Wednesday.
“It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first national team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport.” Maroney wrote in her letter to the court, per ESPN.com. “Because the national team training camps did not allow parents to be present, my mom and dad were unable to observe what Nassar was doing.”
Maroney’s mother, Erin, also wrote a victim impact statement, which was obtained by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” It provides a heartbreaking glimpse into the emotional distress the Maroney family has dealt with because of Nassar’s alleged abuse.
“This experience has shattered McKayla,” Erin Maroney wrote, per ESPN.com. “She has transformed from a bubbly, positive, loving, world class athlete into a young adult who was deeply depressed, at times suicidal. At times, I was unsure whether I would open her bedroom door and find her dead.”
Maroney, a member of the women’s gymnastics team that won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, alleges she was abused by Nassar during those Games, both before their team victory and before she earned an individual silver medal.
One incredibly disturbing incident allegedly occurred when Maroney competed in the 2011 world championships in Tokyo. According to Maroney, now 21 years old, Nassar gave her a sleeping pill for the flight and she woke up in his hotel room getting “treatment.”
“I … learned a few weeks ago from my daughter that at the world championships in Tokyo, (Nassar) drugged her, made her lay nude on a treatment table, straddled her and digitally penetrated her while rubbing his erect penis against her,” Erin Maroney wrote. “She was only 15 years old. She said to me, ‘Mom I thought I was going to die.’
“I cannot tell you the anguish her Dad and I feel and the responsibility we feel for not being aware of this or being able to stop it.”
Nassar is set to be sentenced Thursday in federal court pursuant to his guilty plea on child pornography charges. He could receive a minimum sentence of 27 years under the terms of the plea agreement, but federal prosecutors asked in recent filings for the court to impose a 60-year sentence.
Maroney wants more than that for the guy who seemingly ruined her life.
“He abused my trust, abused my body and left scars on my psyche that may never heal,” McKayla Maroney wrote in her letter, per ESPN.com. “Larry Nassar deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.”
