Larry Nassar, the former doctor for the USA Gymnastics team who has been accused of sexual assault by over 100 women, has plead guilty to charges for posession of child pornography - but his plea deal means that he could avoid criminal charges for sexual assault.
The Washington Post reports that U.S. attorneys will recommend a 22-27 year sentence for Nassar for the three charges related to posession of child pornography after the FBI found over 37,000 images and videos of child pornography on hard drives in his home.
However, in exchange for his admission of guilt to these three charges the attorneys will not pursue charges related to, "interstate/international travel with intent and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places," which is kind of a huge problem considering many of the alleged incidents of sexual assault likely occurred overseas at international competitions like the Olympics and World Gymnastics Championships. Nassar can now only be tried on state charges for alleged abuse that occurred in the state of Michigan
Attorney John Manly, who represents the 100-plus female gymnasts who have accused Nassar of sexual abuse, called the plea deal "outrageous," telling NBC News, "My clients feel betrayed."
Nassar was the team doctor at USA Gymnastics for two decades before he was fired in 2015 due to "athlete concerns." USA Gymnastics has since hired former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels to look into the organization's failure to prevent and report sexual abuse.
"The doctor they assigned to treat me betrayed my trust," Jeanette Antolin, a former national team member from 1995 to 2000 said in a statement to NBC on Tuesday. "Now the Federal Government is giving him a free pass for his alleged assaults on me and many other child athletes. That’s not justice."
