More Emotional Testimonial on Fifth Day of Nassar Sentencing
VAUSE: Well Monday was the fifth day of emotional testimony from victims at Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing. In the past week, nearly 100 young women and girls shared stories of sexual abuse which they suffered at the hands of the former USA gymnastics doctor. Nassar has pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct, he has also admitted to sexually assaulting and abusing young girls under the guy that's providing medical treatment. As part of his plea deal, all of the victims who reported assaults to the Michigan State Police were allowed to give impact statements to the court.</s>TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, NASSAR ACCUSER: What you have done is despicable. What you have done, you have done you can never erase. I have found a little bit of peace knowing that the rest of your life all you will be doing is rotting but I find more peace in knowing that one day you're going to die and when you do, your pain will not subside.</s>EMMA ANN MILLER, NASSAR ACCUSER: I have never wanted hate for my life but my hate towards you is uncontrollable. Larry Nassar, I hate you.</s>VAUSE: Former Gymnast, Rachel Denhollander was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar. She testified last Friday that remained in the courtroom as other women has spoken out. And she sat down and spoke to my colleague Isha Issay about her experience.</s>RACHEL DENHOLLANDER, NASSAR ACCUSER: There are so many dynamics to what had been taking place in that courtroom. I mean, in one sense it is incredibly empowering to see so many women reclaiming their voice. But the reality is that there is an incredible amount of damage that led that Larry has done and the most sobering thing for me is I have sat through testimony after testimony is seeing how many victims came after that first report of sexual assault, the first two reports of sexual assault in 1997. Had those first two reports of sexual assaults in 1997 made to MSU head coach, Kathie Klages been handled properly, the vast majority of the women that you're hearing from would not be in that courtroom today.</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. So many dynamics, as you said so much emotion. How has this journey been for you?</s>DENHOLLANDER: It is an incredibly painful process. Stopping a pedophile, stopping a predator requires losing an extreme amount of privacy. It includes having to relive the abuse over and over and over again. It includes it becoming part of your identity in a way you never wanted it to be. So it has been a very painful process but it has been worth it. And with every survivor that stands up and reclaims her voice, it's a constant reminder that it's been worthed it.</s>SESAY: You have said, you know, in the part -- you said, "We were -- we were silenced, we were mocked, and our abuser was told time and time again, I'm on your side." The culture that allowed this predator to keep abusing has yet to end. As you look out what has been put in place as a result of your bravery and the bravery of other women, where are we in terms of achieving that goal of ending that culture, that culture of silence and making sure that young women and girls feel brave enough to step forward if something wrong is happening.</s>DENHOLLANDER: You know, for both organizations, USAG and MSU, I don't think we've seen anything more than posturing to be perfectly honest. I am grateful to see the steps to close the Karolyi Ranch. But outside of that, every single person, outside of having a new president at USAG, every single person who is responsible for this culture is still on the board at USAG, is still employed at MSU and both organizations have very clearly sent a message that they find that behavior and that conduct acceptable, that there will be no consequences for that behavior and for that conduct. And as far as USAG's new guidelines and new reports, this is all I can say about that, if you have to pay a private investigator to come in and tell you to report the sexual assault of a child, you have no business being on the board of an athlete and child-focused organization.</s>SESAY: Yes. Larry Nassar has been in court throughout these days of survivors sharing the impact of his wild actions and on Thursday we learned that he sent a six-page single-spaced letters to the judge in which he accused the judge of turning the sentencing hearing into a "media circus" to put himself in the spotlight. He also wrote this, "I'm very concerned about my ability to be able to face witnesses this next four days mentally." When you heard that Rachel, what went through your mind? I mean, is this a man who feels remorse, any remorse for what he has done?</s>DENHOLLANDER: No. No. Larry does not feel any remorse for what he has done. To be honest, at this point, I pity Larry, I really do. And I don't think that letter was anything more than an example of how far he has fallen. I truly found it laughable because</s>SESAY: Yes, I think your sentiment is shared by the County Court Judge, Rosemarie Aquilina who read from the letter in courtroom Thursday and she also said this which I think was very poignant. She says, "Spending four or five days listening to them is significantly minor considering the hours of pleasure you had at their expense ruining their lives." I mean, the judge's compassion throughout the sentencing hearing procedures has been clear and touching and I think, again, back to what you're talking about in terms of officials, MSU, Michigan State University, and USA Olympics</s>DENHOLLANDER: I mean, it is almost impossible for multiple reasons. One is because you are powerless, you're not the one in authority. The other dynamic, so many dynamics, is either putting words to it makes it real. So, when you have been through an experience that is incredibly traumatic and degrading and humiliating and confusing. Especially, when it is someone like Larry who you trusted, the ability to put words to what happened is almost never present because the shame is so great. And the confusion is so great. And you know, studies have borne out repeatedly that the trauma of sexual assault is the greatest trauma from a criminal standpoint that is inflicted upon a victim who lives. But the other thing that studies have consistently shown is that the impact of sexual assaults is really directly proportional also to the societal response the victims received when they speak up. And so, when you have children who have been sexually assaulted and they raised their voice and they are silenced and they are disbelieved, that just exponentially increases the damaged that they have already experienced at the hands of their predator. And that needs to be taken very, very seriously.</s>SESAY: As you have been through this painful journey and that's how you described it at the beginning and you have heard from these other survivors. Has there been any, you know -- I don't -- I will say closure, because again, you know, some would say that's a made-up word but has there been any catharsis have you been able to move forward in your healing? Because you've spoken plainly but how this has impacted you in many ways, big and small.</s>DENHOLLANDER: You know, I really was able to reach an incredibly good place of healing before coming forward, which is -- which is what allowed me to be able to do what I did, to be able to hold on to the truth no matter what Larry was saying, no matter what the people around me were saying, no matter what society was saying. Because it was pretty ugly for the first little bit there. Until the child porn was found on Larry's computer, it was very ugly. And so, I am grateful that I was able to do that. I do find that the process, in general, what has been incredibly painful has also then very rewarding. Particularly, again, to see so many women and even children, still, able to reclaim their voice. That's an incredibly beautiful thing to see amidst all of the damage.</s>SESAY: I want to give you the last words to share any messages you may have to any other children or adults who are out there who have been the victim or who are suffering through abuse, who wonder how you found the courage to step out into the light to share your story. What would you say to them?</s>DENHOLLANDER: I would tell them that it is not their fault and that there is hope. That they can call what happened to them evil without minimization, without mitigation. And because they can identify it is evil, they can also be certain good exists. Good and evil exists in opposites. And when you can call something evil, you can also find the good. And where there is good, there is always hope.</s>SESAY: And we can call you brave, Rachael. And we thank you for speaking to us and for sharing your story and setting the wheels in motion to bring this terror to an end. Rachael Denhollander, thank you.</s>DENHOLLANDER: Thank you.</s>VAUSE: And since that conversation that Rachael had with Isha, top executives from USA Gymnastics have stepped down. The organization announced Monday its Chairman, Vice-chairman, and Treasurer have resigned. President and CEO Kerry Perry issued this statement, "We support their decisions to resign at this time. We believe these will -- this step, rather, will allow us to more effectively move forward in implementing change within our Organization." Michigan State University is also speaking out. Larry Nassar worked there from 1997 to 2016. Here's their statement: "Words cannot express the sorrow we feel for Nassar's victims; the thoughts and prayers of the entire MSU community are with these women as we listen to their heart-breaking testimony. But as we have said previously, any suggestion that the university covered up Nassar's horrific conduct is simply false. Nassar preyed on his victims, changing their lives in terrible ways." A short break. More news after this.