The gymnasts who brought down a sexual predator

Before dozens of women took to the podium to testify against former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar, dozens more suffered his abuse in a small town in Michigan.

Listen 49:00
Abigail Pesta and The Girls (Jesse Pesta & Seal Press)

Abigail Pesta and The Girls (Jesse Pesta & Seal Press)

Before his name became synonymous with sexual predation within the world of female Olympic gymnastics, former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was abusing girls as a volunteer doctor at a small gym in Michigan. Our guest ABIGAIL PESTA, author of The Girls, talked to many of these women about how Nassar was able to carry out his abuse for so many years without detection and what can be done to protect young female athletes in the future. Former Olympic Bronze Medal Gymnast and Nasser survivor TASHA SCHWIKERT also joins along with her lawyer, MICHELLE SIMPSON TUEGEL who represents a number of other former gymnasts and survivors. In telling their stories, these women show how the systems put in place by the sport ultimately failed those it was designed to protect.

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