Posted on 10/18/2017 6:33:40 AM PDT by EdnaMode
McKayla Maroney, a two-time Olympic medalist who helped the "Fierce Five" U.S. women's gymnastics team to the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games, has alleged that she was abused as early as age 13 by former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who already faces 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and could receive a sentence of life in prison.
Maroney, now 21, spoke out early Wednesday as part of the "Me too" movement on Twitter, saying, "silence has given the wrong people power for too long, and it's time to take our power back."
Maroney wrote that, starting when she was just 13, she was "molested" by Nassar, who was involved with USA Gymnastics for nearly three decades as a trainer and national medical coordinator, a role that led him to treat the country's elite gymnasts at four separate Olympic Games.
"Dr. Nassar told me that I was receiving 'medically necessary treatment that he had been performing on patients for over 30 years.' It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first National Team training camps, in Texas, and it didn't end until I left the sport. It seemed whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was 'treated.'
"It happened in London before my team and I won the gold medal, and it happened before I won my silver [in vault in London]."
Maroney also says that, when she was 15, Nassar gave her a sleeping pill during an all-day flight to Tokyo and that she woke up alone with him in his hotel room.
"For me, the scariest night of my life happened when I was 15 years old," Maroney wrote in her Twitter post. "... He'd 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."
Forgot to excerpt the article. This isn’t the whole article.
That poor girl has really had a tough time after the Olympics. Hope she can find herself.
I was thinking about Amanda Peterson yesterday, the actress from Can’t By Me Love. She came from a great family, was a beautiful smart girl, and her family said she was abused as a minor in Hollywood. She essentially killed herself with a drug overdose a few years ago after a VERY rough adulthood.
I know some will say where were the parents. Maybe that’s fair but I’ve seen the Petersons interviewed. Dad is a doctor. Amanda’s brother is a pastor. It just all went wrong. It’s sad.
So sad to read of her decline and ultimate suicide. I think there is a long string of similar suicides — River Phoenix, Erin Moran, Corey Haim, others? How many murders have there been? From the Black Dahlia to Phil Spector murdering Lana Clarkson.
You look at how many Hollywood types are completely screwed up emotionally and psychologically and I bet most of it is a result of psychological/sexual trauma at a young age. Boys, girls, it doesn’t matter. Sure, where are the parents, but where is law enforcement?
One was a childhood friend of my sister's, and the other was the daughter of a high-school friend.
The high-school friend's daughter has a totally ruined life. She's an alcoholic and drug-addicted, has attempted suicide many times, can't take care of herself, etc. She's in her late thirties. Has no family of her own, depends on her mother for everything. Really bad.
A friend’s niece became pregnant by her athletic coach.....she was an Olympic hopeful several years ago. She gave up the baby for adoption and is now in college. Good parents, much talent, thrown away by her coach.
I mean, I know of two, and I'm from nowheresville.
Got into a huge fight with the wife last night over this stuff.
Her position is that it happened to her a couple of times when she was younger (High school and college) where a guy stuck his hand up under her dress and grabbed her rear end.
I agreed that kind of behavior is boorish and the guy should have been slapped in the least and kicked out of college at worst. (This happened in a college advisor area—but it was a student along with my wife who was a student at the time.)
The argument stemmed with my conviction that if she did not say anything, then she allowed this man the “permission” to do it again—because there was no consequence.
I also pointed out to her that she should have shared this experience with our two adult daughters while they were going through high school and college. It was her opportunity to “empower” them that unacceptable behavior is unacceptable no matter who does it, or where its done.
I stated my opinion that all of the “celebrities” doing the #meToo bullshit are not doing anyone any good without naming names. The people who do this stuff should be ostracized. and humiliated in the court of public opinion—of not a court of law.
My position was I am horrified that she had to endure that, but I was also horrified that she did nothing to stop it. For all of these women, the message has to be that no one gets away with it. And that lesson is more important than their career—because there are plenty of people who WILL hire you or WILL date you without giving up your self respect.
I was told to climb back on my male perch.
I know three individuals in my life who were raped by Priests. Three different boys. Three parishes. Three different time frames (The 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.)
I felt the same way: If “I” knew three legitimate victims, how many must be out there that never talk.
Don’t believe it was medically necessary but do believe he’d been doing it for 30 years.
I was groped at the office once. I yelled, “get your hands off me or I’ll sue your ass!!”. The look on his face was priceless. No further problems.
I like the Star Trek approach, where the girl always gets to nail the guy with a hard slap in the face when he gets out of line. Women should re-learn that they do have power and they can set their boundaries with the specific men who need to be reminded.
That’s healthier than a generalized bitterness toward men.
I agree with you. If a woman does not send a strong message back that the behavior is unwanted, unfortunately some men will interpret it as the woman simply being coy. As in, “she really wants it”.
Our daughters and sons need to hear these about these experiences so that they are warned about the world we live in. Not every man or woman out there is a creep or a jerk or a predator, but there is no shortage of such people. Knowing that at an age appropriate time is the beginning of arming and empowering our kids to deal with such people.
When the stories about the team doctor first came out, I immediately thought of Maroney. And I can think of two other gymnasts who were possible victims of the pervert. They were both head cases.
I'm thinking further back the the adorable boy on Family Affair. he committed "suicide" at a very young age.
We wondered at the time, movie star what did he have to kill himself for? This might explain a lot!
I'm getting to think like another freeper who said he was going to quit going to movies with young children because they were probably getting abused.
If I was a stage mom, you can bet your booty I wouldn't let my kid go to a "hot dog" party with a bunch of old men!!!
She’s still not impressed.
This is sort of like what Dennis Hastert did to some of the kids on his wrestling team.
I saw a coach abuse a girl, and didn’t know it. I was an adult watching my son be coached, and no one laid a hand on him. But the girls coach was coaching a promising 10 year old girl on the high bar, and he was catching her by the crotch each time he had to catch her and Get her safely to the ground. He grabbed her by the upper back armpit area with one hand and the other hand under her buttocks, in front of maybe 40-50 people many times each day. And I remarked to the person I was sitting with that “it’s a good thing Coach Peters (real name) isn’t a pedo, look how he catches her.” I actually thought that must be the safest way to catch a small child being flung at top centrifugal force.
Later there was a huge expose on how he has abused many of his girls over the years, and USA Gymnastics has forbid him any contact with any of their gyms (which he still secretly profits from anyway since his son runs it). So he was getting his jollies at every catch.
There were a lot of rumors about Bela Karolyi.
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