In October, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney spoke out on Twitter as part of the #MeToo hashtag, which gathered accounts of sexual harassment from thousands of women. In doing so, Maroney alleged that she was sexually abused beginning at age 13 by Team USA Gymnastics Dr. Larry Nassar, who is the subject of similar accusations from 140+ women and girls. Now, fellow Team USA member Aly Raisman has joined with that group and will tell her story on this Sunday’s 60 Minutes episode.
CBS News has released excerpts from Raisman’s taped segment, in which she also alleges sexual abuse by the same doctor. Like Maroney, she was “treated” by Nassar, which Maroney already said was code for him sexually assaulting girls in his hotel rooms. Raisman’s nightmare with Nassar began when she was 15, and she discusses her anger at how “the culture” intimidated young girls so much that they couldn’t speak up:
“I am angry. I’m really upset because it’s been — I care a lot you know, when I see these young girls that come up to me, and they ask for pictures or autographs, whatever it is, I just — I can’t — every time I look at them, every time I see them smiling, I just think — I just want to create change so that they never, ever have to go through this.”
The full interview will discuss more of Raisman’s experience, as will her upcoming book, Fierce, which tells the story of her tainted Olympic dream. Raisman will reveal how she spoke with FBI investigators following the Rio Olympics regarding charges against Nassar. He’s also currently on trial in Michigan for a wealth of charges from other women and girls while also awaiting a federal sentence on child pornography charges. When all is said and done, Nassar could be imprisoned for life.
(Via CBS News)