Preliminary hearings have begun in the case against Dr. Larry Nassar, the sports doctor for Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics. On Friday, three women testified about being sexually abused as teens while receiving physical-therapy treatments from Nassar.
Rachael Denhollander was the first woman to publicly come forward with allegations of abuse against Nassar. She testified in detail that Nassar “penetrated her vaginally and anally with his fingers, and touched her clitoris and breasts during five treatments that began in early 2000. At the time, she was 15.” Her mother was in the room during each incident but couldn’t see what was happening at the time.
“It was brazen. It was clear to me that it was a treatment he did on a regular basis,” Denhollander testified. She added that during the fifth treatment, “He had an erection. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were closed … I was sexually assaulted.”
Two other people testified in the preliminary hearings, known only as Victim G and Victim D, who is still a teenager. “I felt yucky,” she testified. “I had never been touched in that area as a 13-year-old.”
According to the Detroit News, four more people are expected to testify in the preliminary hearings. Three out of the seven people testifying against Nassar are minors and one just turned 18.