'I Just Signed Your Death Warrant': US Olympic Doctor Nassar Sentenced to 175yrs in Prison
Disgraced former US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 175 years in prison for the sexual abuse of some 98 Olympic athletes, the majority of whom were children at the time of his crimes.
Nassar was the doctor for the US gymnastics team for 20 years. He faced lawsuits from 140 women accusing him of sexual abuse during this time. US Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney was among Nassar’s victims and had called for the maximum sentence possible.
"I just signed your death warrant," Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar in imposing the penalty, after condemning his years of abuse.
“Sir you knew you had a problem, that is clear to me. You knew you had a problem from a very young age, even before you were a doctor. You knew you could have taken yourself away from temptation,” Aquilina said during the sentencing on Wednesday.
“Your decision to assault was precise, calculated... and despicable,” the judge added. “You do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again… Everywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable.”
Nassar was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison, and up to 175. He has 21 days to appeal the verdict.
The court heard testimony from more than 160 of his victims, including non-athletes who were also abused by the disgraced doctor.
Last week, a victim impact statement by Kyle Stephens, who was abused by Nassar between the ages of 6 and 12, described how the doctor abused her under the guise of medical treatment. Stephens said that the abuse led her father to commit suicide.
“Little girls don’t stay little forever,” she told the Michigan court. “They grow into strong women that return to destroy your world. Sexual abuse is so much more than a disturbing physical act. It changes the trajectory of a victim’s life, and that is something that nobody has a right to do.”
Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of first-degree sex assault. He is already serving a 60-year sentence for child pornography convictions.
The former team doctor apologized to his victims, saying, "I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days."
However, the judge dismissed his remarks as insincere and read out a letter in which he claimed he was compelled and “manipulated” into pleading guilty. The courtroom audibly gasped as she read his letter aloud. She offered Nasser to change his plea, which he declined.
Report on Idaho State Rep. Hixon's Suicide
details alleged child sexual abuse
by EMILY LOWE elowe@idahopress.com
Former State Representative, Brandon Hixon, who died by suicide earlier this month (2nd story on link), was accused of sexually abusing two young girls, according to documents on the criminal investigation released by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.
Hundreds of pages of documents reveal new details on the criminal investigation that was announced in Oct. 2017. The documents include multiple witness testimonies and reveal the abuse that two girls say they experienced included inappropriate touching and sex. Documents also reveal concerns that Hixon was a harm to himself prior to him committing suicide earlier this month.
According to police and investigative reports, two girls accused Hixon, 36, of sexual abuse. The alleged abuse reportedly went on for years, even while Hixon was in office.
A Caldwell Police report taken in October 2017 states one girl claims Hixon began abusing her when she was four or five years old and that the abuse didn’t end until the summer of 2017. According to an investigative report from the Attorney General’s Office, the girl said after Hixon would touch her he’d threaten to hurt her little brother if she told anyone.
In a Boise Police report documenting the same incident, the girl said the abuse occurred so often she could not give an exact number of times the abuse happened.
Another girl accused Hixon of sexual abuse in 2016, according to an investigative report from the Attorney General’s Office taken on Jan. 4, 2018. This girl, now a preteen, claimed Hixon first began touching her when she was in kindergarten. An investigative report from Oct. 2017 claims the girl used to enjoy going to Hixon’s house but that her feelings changed drastically overnight. The girl, who according to the report wanted to visit frequently, went out of her way and changed routes to avoid Hixon’s house.
In August 2017, Hixon asked his ex-wife, Danielle Eirvin Hixon, to meet him at a gas station. According to a Caldwell Police report she recorded the conversation and turned it over to the Caldwell Police and thought Hixon was likely offering her $2,500 to keep quiet about what she knew. The report states Hixon told his ex-wife that she can’t speak to detectives in the case stating to tell the detectives she never saw one of the girls who alleged abuse sitting on his lap. The report says Hixon told her,”You were the only one that saw (the girl) on my lap … But I didn’t even do anything (expletives) wrong at that point.” During the conversation he also mentioned his lawyer said talking to her, a witness, would be a felony.
In an interview with a family member an investigative report reveals the family member heard Hixon admitted to molesting the two girls. But according to other reports, other family members never confirmed if this was true.
Rebecca Drnjevic, Hixon's mother, stressed in her interview with police that her son never admitted to those acts, but did apologize for any trouble the accusations might cause the family.
Drnjevic said told police she thinks he may have been abused as a child according to rumors, but he never admitted it, according to a Caldwell Police report taken in October 2017.
“If Brandon had been abused as a child that was no excuse for him to do this to anyone,” she said in the interview with police in 2017.
Vermont man sentenced for child sexual abuse
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (WCAX) A Middlebury jury has convicted a Rutland man of lewd conduct with a child and possession of child porn.
Authorities say Jason Harold Dukette, 38, is set to be sentenced in March following the four-day jury trial which ended in a conviction on Tuesday.
Officials say the police and state DCF initially received a report about possible sexual abuse of the victim back in September of 2015 and launched an investigation.
Dukette remains free until his sentencing.
Vermont woman sentenced in child sex abuse case
BARRE, Vt, (WCAX) A Cabot woman is going to prison for one year for her part in allowing a 14-year-old child to be sexually abused.
The Times Argus reports that Bonnie Beede, 38, was sentenced Monday on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct and cruelty to a child.
Beede's boyfriend, Richard Danner, 31, is charged with committing the abuse and fathering a child.
Police say the illegal behavior started when the victim was eight and led to the teen giving birth in a bathroom at the age of 14. Beede told police she had witnessed Danner sexually assaulting the girl but didn't do anything to stop it.
Danner pleaded not guilty to the charges in September and is set to go on trial in the coming months.
Texas man indicted on charge of continuous
sexual abuse of young child
By Whitney Mayfield
SMITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -
Dakota Wilson, 34, faces up to life in prison on allegations he sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 6.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the girl made an outcry at a daycare, saying Wilson had sexually assaulted her.
According to the affidavit, Wilson admitted to the allegations on Nov. 1.
A Smith County Sheriff’s Office detective obtained a warrant for Wilson’s arrest on Nov. 2 2017 and he was arrested the same day.
Wilson is being held in the Smith County Jail on a $750,000 bail.
Both sides rest in Texas child sex abuse/incest trial
By Field Walsh
The state and defense rested late Tuesday in the trial of a Texarkana man accused of molesting two girls to whom he is related.
Michael Lee Sweeten, 53, is accused of abusing one alleged victim, now 19, in 2003 and 2004, and of abusing her younger sister, now 15, in 2015. Sweeten took the stand Tuesday and denied the allegations.
Sweeten testified under direct examination by his attorney, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, that he has been unable to perform sexually since 2002. Sweeten said he has had a stroke and developed severe breathing problems which led doctors to put him on steroids. Sweeten said the steroids caused him to gain about 200 pounds during a three-month period and that his weight has grown to more than 400 pounds. Sweeten is 5’9.
Sweeten gave graphic testimony concerning his physical limitations.
Sweeten testified that he is not very comfortable with children and was not left alone with his accusers as they claimed. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson grilled Sweeten on cross examination.
Both alleged victims testified under questioning from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell that Sweeten would make them sit in his lap in a recliner when the alleged abuse occurred. One of the girls alleged conduct that meets the legal definition of rape.
The younger of the two alleged victims was the first to make an outcry of sexual abuse in 2016. Her older sister came forward after learning that her sister had come forward, the girls testified.
The jury was given instructions by Circuit Judge Brent Haltom to return to the Miller County courthouse Wednesday morning to hear closing arguments. If the jury of six men and six women finds Sweeten guilty, the trial will enter a punishment phase.
If convicted of rape, Sweeten faces 25 to 40 years or life in prison. Each of the four counts of second-degree sexual assault is punishable by five to 20 years. If found guilty of any of the charges Sweeten will be required to register as a sex offender.
The trial is expected to conclude Wednesday.
Virginia Beach man with prior rape convictions sentenced for child sexual abuse
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Melvin Lee Worlds, 58, was sentenced Tuesday for charges of forcible sodomy, object sexual penetration and custodial indecent liberties.
I'm not sure what 'custodial indecent liberties' means exactly, but it sounds like he had children in his custody. Read the last paragraph in this story and explain to me why he was in custody of any children.
A judge sentenced Worlds to 155 years in prison, with 120 years and six months suspended, leaving 34 years and six months to serve.
Worlds pleaded guilty on July 10, 2017.
According to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, between July 2003 and July 2005, Worlds sexually abused a child known to him. Between October 25, 2014 and October 24, 2014 (???), Worlds sexually abused another child known to him.
Between August 19 and August 20, 2016, Worlds sexually abused a third child known to him. The third incident was witnessed by a family member of the victim, who went with the victim to tell an older relative what happened.
When the family member confronted Worlds, he said “I just didn’t think,” “I don’t know” and “I was stupid, I was crazy.”
Worlds told police he didn’t remember the 2003 – 2005 incident but said “it could have happened.”
Worlds has an extensive record dating back to 1979. His prior convictions include Rape, Unlawful Wounding, Petit Larceny (2 counts), Burglary, Grand Larceny, Embezzlement, Trespassing (5 counts), Possession with Intent to Distribute Schedule I/II Drugs, Driving without a License, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and multiple probation violations.
Oregon child sexual abuse suspect captured
KTVB
NYSSA, Oregon -- A convicted sex offender accused of abusing a 10-year-old girl in Oregon has been captured.
Nyssa Police thanked the community for the tips that helped officers track down 42-year-old Douglas Ray Villines.
Villines, who lived in a Nyssa RV park, is charged with attempted rape, sodomy, sexual penetration and sexual abuse. Investigators say his child victim was a relative.
Nyssa Police say their post asking for the public's help finding Villines was shared more than 650 times, reaching nearly 63,000 people.
"Thanks for all the tips, this coward has been captured!!!" the department posted after Villines' Tuesday arrest. "We shared your tips with Detective Perkins who diligently worked this case, he’s a good man. A family and our community can sleep more comfortably now that he is locked up and this case can go through the legal system."
If convicted of the charges, Villines could face decades behind bars.
No comments:
Post a Comment