Gymnast McKayla Maroney said on Sunday that she told a USA Gymnastics coach and other gymnasts in 2011 that she had been sexually abused by team doctor Larry Nassar.
In an interview with NBC’s “Dateline“, the gold medalist said that she told coach John Geddert and other gymnasts about the abuse and Geddert did not react while the other gymnasts seemed shocked.
“I just said, ‘Last night, it was like Larry was fingering me,’ ” Maroney said she told them. “I said this loud.”
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One gymnast later told NBC that the alleged incident did not happen, but three other witnesses backed Maroney’s account.
Geddert was suspended by USA Gymnastics in January because of accusations of physical and verbal abuse.
Maroney said that Nassar molested her the first time he examined her when she was 13 years old and that he abused her every time she saw him, which was hundreds of times.
“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,” Maroney said about Nassar. “He didn’t say it in a way that was like 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 is one of more than 250 girls and women who say Nassar sexually abused them while claiming his actions were medical procedures.
Nassar is currently in prison on criminal sexual activity and federal child pornography charges.