Olympian McKayla Maroney Alleges Sexual Abuse By USA Team Doctor For Seven Years

Olympic Gold Medalist McKayla Maroney is coming forward and saying that she was sexually abused for seven years by the USA Team doctor for women’s gymnastics. The abuse even happened just before her award-winning performances at the 2012 Olympics.

TMZ reports that McKayla Maroney was enduring abuse since the time she was 13-year-old. Maroney claims that Dr. Larry Nassar molested and sexually abused her from the time she was in the National Team training camps in Texas until she left the sport. She claims that Nassar was repeatedly molesting her under the premise that he was “treating” her.

McKayla, now 21, says Dr. Nassar informed her that the procedures she was receiving intra-vaginally were “medically necessary treatment that he had been performing on patients for over 30 years.”

The Olympian alleges that “whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was ‘treated.'”

McKayla Maroney added that the abuse happened in London before her team won the gold medal; it also occurred before she won a silver medal. She recalls a time when Nassar gave her a sleeping pill on a flight to Tokyo when she was 15-years-old. When she awoke, the next thing she knew was she was alone with him in his hotel where she was being “treated.” It was then she felt like she was “going to die that night.”

Dr. Nassar has been accused by 125 other gymnasts for sexual misconduct and have filed lawsuits against him. This is the first time that McKayla Maroney has alleged abuse by the doctor. Nassar claims that the intra-vaginal procedures were medically necessary.

The Daily Mail reports that many former gymnasts have accused Nassar of inserting un-gloved fingers into their bodies and fondling their breasts.

Nassar will be sentenced on November 27 in federal court after he pleaded guilty to three child pornography charges, which aren’t related to the sexual abuse allegations. The lawsuit filed by the 125 gymnasts is still awaiting trial, as well as a trial on criminal sexual conduct charges. The former U.S. gymnastics team doctor has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

McKayla Maroney: I Was Drugged and Molested By Team USA Doctor https://t.co/AZiKoPbHvU

— TMZ (@TMZ) October 18, 2017

Witnesses testified in another trial in June that Nassar used his position as a team doctor to sexually assault girls by penetrating them with his fingers under the guise of administering medically necessary treatment to help with “spinal alignment.” He made the girls believe that it was a “legitimate treatment,” the prosecuting attorney argued. The case consisted of seven women.

McKayla Maroney’s statement against the former USA Team doctor comes after multiple women are speaking out against sexual abuse they’ve suffered following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

[Featured Image by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]