Texas Charges Nassar, USA Gymnastics Trainer, But Not Karolyis

HUNTSVILLE, TX — Disgraced gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who is already serving what amounts to a life sentence for molesting hundreds of young female gymnasts, faces multiple new sexual assault charges in Texas. Authorities also said Friday they are bringing charges against a trainer who worked at the ranch owned by legendary coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi.

The new charges against Nassar, the former Michigan State University sports doctor who served as the team doctor through four Olympic Games, are six counts of sexual abuse of a child, each a second-degree felony.

USA Gymnastics trainer Deborah Van Horn faces one count of sexual assault of a child in the second degree. Van Horn, who is not in custody, is accused of “acting as a party” to the alleged abuse, Walker County prosecutors said at the news conference.

Authorities said the new charges against Nassar involve six patients who have been treated at the Karolyi ranch in Huntsville since the early 2000s. The charges come about six months after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers and Walker County Sheriff’s Office to investigate gymnasts’ allegations that they had been abused at the Karolyi ranch, where numerous Olympic athletes have trained for decades.

The Karolyis won’t be charged, nor will officials from USA Gymnastics, which a long list of Olympic athletes have said looked the other way as Nassar repeatedly molested them under the guise of medically necessary treatment. Statutes of limitations prevented them from charging USA gymnastics officials, prosecutors said. But the investigation is continuing with a focus on USAG, which employed Nassar.

“They received information and did not act on it timely and didn’t inform other people like the Karolyis that was what was going on,” Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said at the news conference..

Several Nassar victims said both the Karolyis and USAG should be held accountable in what has been called the worst sexual abuse scandal in sports history. Prominent Olympic gymnasts have brought pressure on both USAG, the sport's governing body, and the U.S. Olympic Committee to do more to protect athletes from sexual abuse.

In the case of the Karolyis, Walker County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Stroud said they have been cooperative in the investigation and there is no “corroborative evidence … that they did anything wrong.”

Some gymnasts have said the Karolyis not only knew of the abuse as far back as 2015 and did nothing to protect them, but also created a punishing environment that made it easy for a predator like Nassar to win the trust of stressed-out gymnasts.

“Charging Larry Nassar with more crimes makes about as much sense as digging up Lee Harvey Oswald and charging him with JFK’s murder,” attorney John Manly, who represents many of the more than 300 Nassar accusers, told NBC News.

The Karolyis’ attorney, David Berg, told NBC they had been “exonerated.”

“There is no comparison to what the girls have gone through, but Martha and Bela are also victims of Larry Nassar, and of his assistant Debbie Van Horn. They have devoted their lives to gymnastics and to the girls they have trained. This has just killed them," Berg told the network. “It has been clear to our law firm from the start that the allegations and civil suits against them have been entirely opportunistic. They are seen as a 'deep pocket,' but really should not be involved at all.”

Nassar was already serving a 60-year sentence on federal pornography charges when a pair of Michigan judges tacked on 40 to 175 years more early this year after days of testimony by hundreds of Nassar victims in separate sentencing hearings.

Answering a reporter’s question, Weeks said Nassar will be brought to Texas for trial “if we can.”

See Also

‘I Just Signed Your Death Warrant’: Michigan Judge Sentences Nassar
Victims’ Dad Lunges At Nassar During Sentencing Hearing
Nassar Says It’s Hard Listening To Victims, Judge Calls Him Out
Gymnastics’ Karolyis Sued, File Their Own Lawsuit In Nassar Scandal

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images: File