advertisement

As disturbing details of USA Gymnastics cases emerge, what can be done to protect our kids?

The details that keep emerging about the sexual abuse case involving more than 140 USA female gymnasts and their former male team doctor are increasingly cringe-worthy.

Larry Nassar, 54, has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges. He is accused of photgraphing some of the girls and women he abused and even is accused of photographing himself molesting them.

Some of these girls were barely teenagers, and were abused by Nassar for years under the guise of receiving medical treatment from him.

If that isn't cringe worthy enough, add in the fact that evidence of cover-ups is surfacing.

According to a lawsuit filed by Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, USA Gymnastics paid her more than $1 million in 2016 to stay silent about her many encounters with Nassar.

She eventually did go public, and essentially set off this onslaught of accusations by other gymnasts.

Michigan State also made questionable decisions regarding Nassar, whose full-time job away from USA Gymnastics was as a doctor for the Michigan State athletic department.

When allegations surfaced about Nassar in early 2017, the Michigan State police department began a lengthy investigation into Nassar.

But he was allowed to continue seeing patients during the investigation.

What?!

Nassar is scum, and will pay for his crimes with the rest of his life in jail.

But what about all the bureaucrats who seemed to protect and enable him? How will USA Gymnastics and Michigan State pay? How will those entities answer to all the gymnasts who were hurt by Nassar?

How will USA Gymnastics and Michigan State do right by those girls and women, who have spent the last week in court during the sentencing phase of Nassar's trial sharing their painfully gut-wrenching victim impact statements?

It will be interesting what the ripple effects of this will be for all the major players involved.

In the meantime, we have got to get a handle on how to protect our kids from predators like Nassar.

There needs to be some common sense standards in place for how "business" is conducted between adults in power and children/minors.

Coaches, teachers, doctors should not be alone with children behind closed doors. Either another adult needs to be present, or any door in the room needs to be kept wide open.

Perhaps all offices in which interactions between adults and children take place need to have constant video surveillance.

And I would suggest that all schools, from elementary all the way up to college come up with some kind of formal, universal system that gives kids a safe way to report abuse, to a entity on campus or in the organization that has nothing to do directly with sports or academics.

Many kids don't report abuse due to the fear of retribution. They worry about their grades or their playing time.

This problem, which continues into adulthood, as evidenced by the #MeToo movement, is just heartbreaking. Even sadder, the USA Gymnastics crisis might just be the tip of the iceberg.

Sports, school, a doctor's office should be safe places for our kids.

How sad that is no longer the case.

We need to change that. What are your ideas?

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.