Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, convicted of sexually abusing gymnasts, was stabbed multiple times Sunday in the Florida federal penitentiary where he is being held, multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News. According to the sources, he is recovering in a hospital after the attack.
According to the Associated Press, which first reported the attack, the attack occurred during an altercation with another inmate at Coleman US Penitentiary in Florida. A source told the AP that Nassar was stabbed in the back and chest. The sources were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack or the ongoing investigation and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.
In a statement to CBS News, the Bureau of Prisons declined to confirm that Nassar had been stabbed, citing privacy and security reasons. However, the bureau confirmed that on Sunday afternoon “an inmate at Coleman II (USP) United States Prison in Sumterville, Fla. was assaulted – Rescue efforts are continuing. The occupant was transported by emergency services to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
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No staff or other inmates were injured and the public was never in danger, the office said.
An internal investigation is ongoing.
“All visits to this facility have been suspended until further notice,” read a banner on the prison’s website Monday morning.
Nassar was sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists. He is serving decades of convictions in state and federal courts. He admitted to sexually abusing athletes while working at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Separately, Nassar pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
In victim impact statements in 2018, several athletes testified that over the course of Nassar’s more than two decades of sexual abuse, they told adults, including coaches and athletic trainers, about what happened, but that it was not reported.
More than 100 women, including Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, collectively demanded more than $1 billion from the federal government for the FBI’s failure to stop Nassar when agents learned of allegations against him in 2015. He was arrested by Michigan State University police in 2016, more than a year later.
Larry Nassar in court in Lansing, Michigan on January 24, 2018. JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
The state of Michigan, which has been accused of missing a chance to stop Nassar for many years, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls he assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committees have reached a $380 million settlement.
In June 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court denied a final appeal by Nassar. Nassar’s lawyers said he was wronged in 2018 and deserved a new hearing based on vindictive remarks by a judge who called him a “monster” who would “wither” in prison like the wicked witch in The Wizard of oz”.
“I just signed your death warrant,” Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said of Nassar’s 40-year sentence.
The state Supreme Court said Nassar’s appeal was a “close issue” and that there were “concerns” about the judge’s conduct. However, the court also found that despite her provocative comments, Aquilina stuck to the penalty agreement drawn up by attorneys in the case.
“We refuse to expend additional judicial resources and subject victims to additional trauma in this case when the issues at hand constitute merely an academic exercise,” the court said in a bilateral order.
More than 150 victims spoke or made statements during an extraordinary seven-day hearing in the Aquilina court more than four years ago.
“It’s over. … Almost six years after I filed the police report, it’s finally over,” said Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar.
Rachael Denhollander on the power of manipulation by Larry Nassar
CBS News’ Pat Milton and Rob Legare contributed coverage.