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15-year-old rips Larry Nassar: ‘My hate towards you is uncontrollable’

Posted at 1:07 PM, Jan 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-22 15:07:24-05

LANSING, Mich. — She’s one of Larry Nassar’s youngest victims, and possibly his most recent.

But 15-year-old Emma Ann Miller tore into the former USA Gymnastics doctor during his sentencing hearing Monday.

“I have never wanted to hate someone in my life, but my hate towards you is uncontrollable,” Miller told Nassar as she stared him down in court.

“You will probably never talk to a woman again, except for one holding a gun, a Taser and a billy club. Which is a good thing.”

Miller said she was 10 years old when she started getting monthly treatments from Nassar for a back injury. She said her mother is still getting billed for those visits from Michigan State University Sports Medicine, where Nassar had also worked.

“I, too, was sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar — multiple times at multiple appointments,” she said.

She said some of those incidents took place in a supply room. Her last encounter was in August 2016 — one week before Nassar was let go by MSU.

“I’m possibly the last child he will ever assault,” she said.

Nassar has pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County, Michigan, and has admitted to sexually assaulting and abusing young girls under the guise of providing medical treatment.

As part of his plea deal, all of the victims who reported assaults to Michigan State Police were allowed to give victim impact statements at the sentencing.

Nassar also has pleaded guilty to three charges of criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County, Michigan, and already has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for federal child pornography charges.

Prosecutors say a total of about 144 victims’ impact statements will be read or delivered in court. The statements could last into Tuesday, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said.

‘At that moment, I became his next victim’

Many victims spoke of Nassar’s former reputation as a top-notch doctor — an asset he fully exploited, accusers say.

“My mom and I felt very lucky we were able to get an appointment at his office because of his exceptional reputation,” survivor Whitney Mergens said.

Suffering from back pain, Mergens saw Nassar shortly after the doctor returned from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

To try to cheer her up, Mergens said, Nassar gave her a postcard from Beijing, autographed by the Olympic gymnasts.

At first, Mergens was delighted. Then, “at that moment, I became his next victim.”

“When it was over, my 11-year-old innocent mind was oblivious to what had just happened,” Mergens said. “I quit gymnastics shortly after that.”

A new legacy

Several Olympians have also confronted Nassar in court, including Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber.

One of the most searing takedowns came from Raisman, who stared down Nassar and lambasted his decades of abuse.

“Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force, and you are nothing,” the 23-year-old said.

Miller, the 15-year-old victim, said Monday that Nassar’s legacy is forever ruined.

“Nassar has done something few people can do in their lifetime. Like how Kleenex is actually a corporate brand that many use in everyday vocabulary to describe a tissue, he has forever identified his name with child sexual abuse,” the teen said.

“Long after the ‘Olympic gymnasts’ doctor’ fades into a trivia fact known only by us or a Jeopardy contestant, the word ‘Nassar’ will permanently be associated with child sexual abuse.”

The-CNN-Wire
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