A male gymnast has come forward to accuse former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse. He is the first male gymnast to do so.
Jacob Moore levied the new charges against Nassar through an amended complaint in a federal civil lawsuit filed by a group of gymnasts against Nassar, Michigan State University, its Board of Trustees, and others.
Moore alleges that Nassar treated a shoulder injury via acupuncture to his genital area. Moore also alleges that Nassar exposed Moore to an underage female gymnast. The alleged abuse occurred in the basement of Nassar’s home, the complaint says. It goes on to argue that there is no known medical reason to perform acupuncture in the genital area in an attempt to treat a shoulder injury. It sums up the accusation this way: “Moore believes the conduct of Dr. Nassar was sexual assault, battery, abuse, molestation and harassment . . . for Defendant Nassar’s sexual pleasure and gratification.”
Moore is the brother of another Moore accuser, Kamerin Moore. Jacob Moore currently competes for the University of Michigan.
More than 150 female gymnasts levied abuse accusations against Nassar during sentencing hearings in two Michigan counties earlier this year. During those hearings, Nassar received a sentence of up to 175 years in one county and up to 125 years in another. Nassar admitted guilt, thus avoiding a trial on those criminal charges. He also admitted guilt on federal pornography charges. He must serve a 60-year federal sentence before becoming eligible to serve the state sentences, assuming he lives that long.
USA Gymnastics would not comment on Moore’s lawsuit, but they did send a statement to Law&Crime on Friday, saying:
USA Gymnastics supports our athletes, like Aly Raisman, Jacob Moore and others, who have shared their experiences with abuse, and we are very sorry that any athlete has been hurt by the despicable crimes of Larry Nassar. USA Gymnastics first became aware that an athlete had expressed concern about a procedure by Larry Nassar in June 2015, which led USA Gymnastics to report Nassar to the FBI and dismiss him from further involvement with USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics is committed to doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again by making bold decisions and holding ourselves to the highest standards of care. We need the gymnastics community to join with us to accomplish this for both the young men and women who are pursuing their gymnastics dreams today and to honor those who have gone before.
Note: This article has been updated with USA Gymnastics’ statement.
[Image via Scott Olson/Getty Images.]
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