McKayla Maroney Claims Doctor Larry Nassar Abused Her 'Hundreds' of Times
McKayla Maroney revealed that she was molested "hundreds" of times by the former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
The Olympic gold medalist told Savannah Guthrie in an NBC News exclusive interview, which will air on Sunday, that Nassar started to sexually abuse her during their first meeting when she was only 13 years old. She also claimed that the abuse persisted for years after that.
"He told me he was going to do a checkup on me and that was the first day I was abused," Maroney, now 22 years old, said in the interview as reported by Today.
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"He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics, so you can't tell people this," she also stated. "He didn't say it in a way that was mean or anything like that. I actually was like, 'That makes sense. I don't want to tell anybody about this.' And I didn't believe that they would understand," Maroney went on to say.
Maroney also said that the sexual abuses at the hands of the doctor continued every time she had to see him.
Over 250 women and young girls came forward to talk about the sexual abuses that they experienced from Nasser. This includes Maroney's former USA Gymnastics teammates Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber, and Gabby Douglas.
According to Wieber, Nassar started abusing her when she was just 14 years old. She also said that she felt very uncomfortable every time she sees him for a routine checkup. She also mentioned that the saddest part of her experience was the fact that she has no idea that she is already being sexually abused even if she already feels uncomfortable during her sessions with the doctor because she trusted him since he is the physician for the national team.
The USA Gymnastics Team released a statement about Maroney's claims, saying that they are saddened by her memories of the team are stained by the crimes committed by the doctor.
"The powerful voices of the athletes, like McKayla, who shared their experiences of abuse by Nassar impacted us all and will influence our decisions going forward. USA Gymnastics is committed to building a culture that empowers and supports our athletes and focuses on our highest priority, the safety and well-being of our athletes," the team said in the statement that was published by NBC.
They also mentioned that they will do everything that they can to prevent any abuses in the future.
Nassar pleaded guilty to molesting the female athletes under the cover of medical treatment and was sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography charges back in 2017. He was also sentenced to an additional 80 years in prison by two other judges in Michigan for sexual assault earlier this year.
The full interview with Maroney and the other girls from the USA Gymnastics Team, as well as the statements from former national team coordinators Bela and Martha Karolyi who have their own insights about the abuses that the members of the team went through, is slated to air on NBC in a special edition of "Dateline" on Sunday, April 22.
