For the first time, a male gymnast has come forward to accuse Dr. Larry Nassar, the disgraced USA gymnastics physician sentenced to prison for the sexual abuse of, up until now, female athletes.
Jacob Moore, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan and former member of the U.S. men’s junior national gymnastics team, has joined a lawsuit against ex–USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Moore is the first male athlete to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar.
Moore has accused Nassar of sexually abusing him in 2016, when he was only 16 years old. According to the complaint filed this week, Moore says he went to Nassar’s house seeking treatment for a shoulder injury. Once there, Nassar allegedly brought Moore down to his basement, where he proceeded to expose the boy’s genitals to a young female gymnast who was there, and then told him he would treat his shoulder injury “through acupuncture in his pubic area and in and around his genitalia.”
Moore’s sister, Kamerin, was also abused by Nassar and even spoke of her brother’s ordeal in a victim-impact statement in January. Moore is now a gymnast at the University of Michigan.
“My whole family was fooled by you,” Kamerin said. “You put acupuncture needles right next to his genitals.”
An attorney for Nassar declined to comment.
More than 250 women have come forward to accuse Nassar of sexual assault. Jacob Moore is the first male. Given the number of accusations against Nassar already, it seems doubtful he will be the one and only. Nassar is a serial predator who deserves his lifetime jail sentence. He ruined lives and preyed upon the best and the brightest of our young people.
The swath of destruction Nassar left is wide and extends beyond those who survived his sexual abuse. The entire Board of USA Gymnastics resigned in January. This week, Scott Blackmun, the head of the United States Olympic Committee, resigned amid investigations into whether the organization knew and covered up allegations against Nassar. The world of youth sports is, and should be, facing a period of soul-searching.