This week and last, over 100 women have stood up in a Michigan courtroom and told stories of how former sports doctor Larry Nassar sexually abused them. The testimonies have been going on for five days as part of Nassar's sentencing and will continue on Tuesday.
The former USA Gymnastics doctor has already pled guilty to child pornography charges, and was sentenced to sixty years in prison for that crime, but is still awaiting a jail sentence for multiple sexual assault charges.
At one point last Wednesday, Nassar wrote a letter to the judge, saying that listening to the statements was too hard and claiming she had made the trial a "media circus". "You may find it harsh that you are here listening," Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said in a blistering response. "But nothing is as harsh as what your victims endured for thousands of hours at your hands."
Below, read some of the most powerful and inspiring statements from Nassar's victims:
Kyle Stephens
Kyle Stephens was the very first woman to testify at Nassar's sentencing. She said she was first assaulted by Nassar when she was six years old. In her statement, she wrote that the abuse continued for years in his Lansing, Mich. home. She tried to tell her parents about the abuse when she was 12.
"Let me remind you of the interests of a six-year-old girl. My favorite TV show was Clifford The Big Red Dog, and my favorite book was Junie B. Jones. I could not do a multiplication problem, and I still had not lost all my baby teeth. I think we can all agree that someone of this maturity level should not be sexually active, but I was. Without my knowledge or consent, I had engaged in my first sexual experience by kindergarten.
"Perhaps you have figured it out by now, but little girls don't stay little forever. They grow into strong women that return to destroy your world."
McKayla Maroney
McKayla Maroney, 22, was part of the Fierce Five gymnasts who won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In her statement (which a prosecutor read on her behalf), she wrote that she was first abused by Nassar when she was 13 or 14 years old at a Texas training camp.
"For me, the scariest night of my life happened when I was 15 years old. I had flown all day and night with the [U.S. world championship team] to get to Tokyo. [Larry had] given me a sleeping pill for the flight, and the next thing I know, I was all alone with him in his hotel room getting a "treatment." I thought I was going to die that night."
"As it turns out, much to my demise, Dr. Nassar was not a doctor, he in fact is, was, and forever shall be, a child molester, and a monster of a human being. End of story! He abused my trust, he abused my body and he left scars on my psyche that may never go away."
Jade Capua
Jade Capua, now 17, said she was 13 years old when Nassar first abused her. She didn't realize she had been abused until three weeks after allegations against Nassar became public.
"You manipulated us to trust you because you're a doctor, and doctors do no wrong, only heal. You are not a healer.
"I am no longer broken by you. Every day I grow a new strength and look into the mirror to see a strong, unbreakable person."
Tiffany Thomas Lopez
Tiffany Thomas Lopez was a softball player at Michigan State University. She said she was abused by Nassar while she was a student there, and she reported the abuse to four different trainers and a supervisor in 1998.
"Since you decided to tell the truth about sexually assaulting an army of young women, I'm choosing to stand tall with them and fight back. The army you chose in the late '90s to silence me, to dismiss me and my attempt at speaking the truth will not prevail over the army you created when violating us. We seek justice, we deserve justice and we will have it."
Aly Raisman
Aly Raisman, 23, said she was first abused by Nassar when she was 16. She said the abuse first happened when she was competing in Melbourne, Australia. Raisman participated in both the 2012 and 2016 summer Olympics.
"Larry, you do realize now that we, the group of women you so heartlessly abused for such a long period of time, are now a force, and you are nothing. The tables have turned Larry, we are here, we have voices, and we are not going anywhere."
"As for your letter yesterday, you are pathetic to think anyone would have any sympathy for you. You think this is hard for you? Imagine how all of us feel."
"Imagine feeling like you have no power and no voice. Well you know what, Larry? I have both power and voice and I'm only beginning to just use them. All these brave women have power and we will use our voices to make sure you get what you deserve — a life of suffering spent replaying the words delivered by this powerful army of survivors."
Jordyn Wieber
Jordyn Wieber, 22, is a retired gymnast who competed in the 2012 London Olympics as part of the Fierce Five. She read in her statement that Nassar's abuse first started when she was 14.
"I thought that training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do, but in fact, the hardest thing I've ever had to do is process that I'm a victim of Larry Nassar."
"But even though I'm a victim, I do not and will not live my life as one. I'm an Olympian. Despite being abused, I worked so hard and managed to achieve my goal. But I want everyone to know, especially the media, that despite my athletic achievements, I am one of over 140 women and survivors whose story is important."
Jeanette Antolin
Jeanette Antolin is a former gymnast who was on the U.S. national team from 1995 to 2000. She said in her statement that she was abused by Nassar at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas.
"We relied on Larry to heal our injuries, and help us achieve our dreams. He gained our trust with his likability and his compassion, but little did I know, that behind his good-guy façade, there was a monster."
"The little girls you took advantage of so easily have now come back to haunt you."
Lindsey Lemke
Lindsey, now 22, was a gymnast whose family became friends with the Nassars when she was younger. In her statement, she read that Nassar started abusing her when she was 10. Her mother had also read a statement on her behalf earlier in the week.
"To me, you are the worst type of person, someone who takes advantage, someone who belittles, someone who controls, someone who took away trust, childhoods, happiness, innocence, and someone who even took lives of others."
"You have pissed off the wrong army of women."
Emma Ann Miller
Emma Ann Miller, now 15, said she first started seeing Nassar for a back injury when she was 10, which is when the abuse started. She is possibly his most recent victim. When she read her statement, she said her mother was still getting bills from Michigan State University for the appointments.
"I'm possibly the last child you will ever assault."
"I'm smart enough, wise enough, and been advised enough that simply because he treated us in despicable and inhumane ways, doesn't mean that we, our system, treats the worst of the worst."
