Convicted Sports Doctor Stabbed Multiple Times in Florida Prison

Dr. Larry Nassar, a former Team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, sits in the courtroom during his sentencing hearing in the Eaton County Court in Charlotte, Michigan, U.S., Feb. 2, 2018. Rebecca Cook/Reuters

Larry Nassar—the disgraced sports physician who was convicted of sexually assaulting female gymnasts, including Olympians—has been stabbed multiple times by another inmate in his Florida prison.

Mr. Nassar was stabbed in the back and chest during an altercation with his fellow inmate on July 9, according to the Associated Press. He was reported to be in stable condition on July 10.

The attack was confirmed late on July 10 by Joe Rojas—the president of Florida’s Federal Correctional Complex Coleman officers’ union, Local 506—who told CNN that Nassar was stabbed twice in the back, twice in the neck, and six times in the chest.

Mr. Nassar is currently held at United States Penitentiary Coleman II, a high-security facility in Sumpterville, Florida. It houses 1,214 prisoners.

Short staffing at the prison has been reported.

Larry Nassar, a former Team USA Gymnastics doctor, who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, and his defense attorney Matt Newburg stand during sentencing in the Eaton County Court in Charlotte, Mich., on Feb. 5, 2018. Rebecca Cook/Reuters

“We can confirm on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at approximately 2:35 p.m, an inmate was assaulted at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Coleman II, in Sumterville, Florida,” the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said in an email to The Epoch Times.

“Responding staff immediately initiated life-saving measures. Staff requested Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and life-saving efforts continued. The inmate was transported by EMS to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation.”

No other staff or inmates were injured, and at no time was the public in danger, the bureau said.

However, BOP did not explicitly state that it was Mr. Nassar who was assaulted, saying that “for privacy, safety, and security reasons,” it “does not discuss the conditions of confinement for any inmate or group of inmates, including medical status.”

An internal investigation is continuing.

Hundreds of Victims Over 20 Years

Mr. Nassar is in the early years of a decades-long prison sentence for his sex crime convictions in state and federal courts.

He previously worked at Michigan State University and with Olympians and National Team athletes at USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. He admitted to sexually assaulting athletes while in both jobs.

He also separately pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

Mr. Nassar was arrested in 2016, more than a year after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became aware of the allegations against him.

First brought forward by former gymnast Rachael Denhollander, hundreds of women and girls came forward saying they were assaulted by Mr. Nassar over a span of more than 20 years.

Three hundred of them received payment in a $500 million settlement from Michigan State after accusing the university of ignoring several chances to stop him over the years.

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee paid their own settlement of $380 million.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and more than 100 other women sued the Federal Government for $1 billion for the FBI’s failure to properly act on the allegations against Mr. Nassar in 2015.

More than 40 women came forward to say they were molested by him during that time delay.

The age of his victims ranged from young women to teenage and prepubescent girls. And most of those victims said his assaults were done under the guise of medical treatment.

Out of the hundreds of accusations, Mr. Nassar only pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree sexual conduct with nine victims.

Randall Margraves (L) lunges at Larry Nassar (wearing orange) in the Eaton County Circuit Court, Feb. 2, 2018. Reuters/Rebecca Cook

In 2017 he received a 60-year federal sentence. In 2018, he received two convictions in the Michigan Supreme Court for sentences in state prison by Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina and Eaton County Judge Janice Cunningham.

One conviction was 40–175 years and the other 40–125 years.

“I just signed your death warrant,” Aquilina said as she sentenced him to a prison sentence lasting between 40–175 years.

Mr. Nassar’s medical license was also permanently revoked in the State of Michigan in 2018 after first giving him a three-year suspension. The state also fined him $1 million.

His final attempt to appeal her ruling was rejected by Michigan Supreme Court in 2022.

During the trial, more than 150 women came forward to give victim impact statements.

Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander speaks about Dr. Larry Nassar in Lansing, Mich., on Nov. 22, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo

In 2021, the Department of Justice’s inspector general found that the FBI failed to properly investigate Mr. Nassar.

And in 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the “Respect for Child Survivors Act,” which requires the FBI to use a “multidisciplinary approach” as well as a “trained child adolescent forensic interviewer” to improve its efforts in investigating child sexual exploitation or abuse.

The Associated Press, Ross Moscato, and Tribune News Service contributed to this story.