LANSING, MICH.—The former sports doctor who admitted molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison by a judge who proudly told him, “I just signed your death warrant.”The sentence capped a remarkable seven-day hearing in which scores of Larry Nassar’s victims were able to confront him face to face in a Michigan courtroom.“It is my honour and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again. You have done nothing to control those urges and anywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable,” Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said.Nassar’s actions were “precise, calculated, manipulative, devious, despicable,” she said.When the hearing ended, the courtroom broke into applause. Victims and prosecutors embraced at the conclusion of the gruelling 16-month case.It was the second long-term prison sentence for the 54-year-old physician. He has also been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes.A prosecutor said Nassar found competitive gymnastics to be a “perfect place” for his crimes because victims saw him as a “god” in the sport.“It takes some kind of sick perversion to not only assault a child but to do so with her parent in the room,” prosecutor Angela Povilaitis said. “To do so while a lineup of eager young gymnasts waited.”She described the “breadth and ripple” of Nassar’s sexual abuse as “nearly infinite.”“What does it say about our society that victims of sexual abuse have to hide their pain for years when they did nothing wrong? What does it say about our society when victims do come forward ... and are treated as liars until proven true?” Povilaitis said.Nassar turned to the courtroom gallery to make a brief statement, saying that the accounts of mor ...
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