Aly Raisman On Nassar Sentence: 'He Deserves To Suffer'

NEEDHAM, MA — Needham resident and Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman continues to not hold back when it comes to addressing her alleged sexual assaulter.

Raisman appeared on NBC’s Today Show Thursday morning to discuss the sentencing of disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting minors. Prior to sentencing, more than 150 women who said they were sexually assaulted by Nassar spoke during the victim impact statement period, including Raisman.

“It’s not something where you just instantly feel better. We need to hold these organizations accountable,” Raisman said of Nassar's sentence. “He deserves to suffer, it’s disgusting what happened.”

Raisman has been one of the more vocal Nassar survivors. She revealed late last year that he was one of the several gymnasts that was allegedly sexually assaulted by Nassar. Her victim impact statement has been widely praised, with lines for the speech appearing on posters at last weekend’s women’s marches across the county.

She said her moment in court felt similar to a competition.

“At the Olympics, you block out everything, in that moment I blocked everything. I forgot people were watching, I forgot the media was there, I forgot that Larry was right there and I just spoke and I felt like I had to be strong. After, I was sick, I almost passed out, I had a headache for hours,” she said.

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Raisman again called for an independent investigation into how Nassar was able to go unchecked for so many years and apparently without a medical license in Texas, where the USA Gymnastics training center is located.

“What does that say about USA Gymnastics and the USOC. Whether they knew or didn’t know, that’s a big problem. How is that possible? He didn’t have a medical license in Texas,” she said.

The USOC’s first statement on the Nassar scandal came out Monday, but Raisman said she has yet to hear from anyone at the country’s Olympic governing body.

“They say they want an independent investigation but it’s easy to say when everyone’s watching and there’s pressure but they don’t,” she said.

Raisman said her goal is to make sure this never happens again and young athletes are educated to learn what the signs of a predator are.

Below is the full interview:

Image: File Photo