60 minutes rewind
the u.s women's gymnastics team for all its success over the past few decades has
become embroiled in a dark and disturbing scandal concerning sexual abuse last year the indianapolis
star investigated cases in which male coaches members of the national governing organization usa
gymnastics were accused of sexually abusing female gymnasts that report prompted young women to come
forward with accounts of abuse they had suffered within the u.s gymnastics system for many years
as young girls and competitive gymnasts these new accusations concern not a coach
but a prominent doctor who'd been working with u.s olympic and national teams and other athletes
for three decades more than 60 women have filed complaints so far and some believe that number
may reach into the hundreds now for the first time three former members of u.s national teams
won an olympic medalist described in what you should be warned is disturbing detail
the treatment they received from dr lawrence nasser a man they trusted and
felt so comfortable with they called him larry all the girls liked larry he was like my buddy
he was on my side he was so sure of himself and as a young girl you're confused you don't know what's
going on jessica howard was the u.s national champion in rhythmic gymnastics from 1999 to 2001.
very creative innovative skills jeanette antolin competed with the u.s national team from 1995 to
2000. she's been solid she helped ucla win three national championships jamie dancher won a bronze
medal in the 2000 olympics and was recently inducted into ucla's athletic hall of fame
she's taken the apple cart and flipped it upside down they were teenagers in a sport where injuries
are common and the professional they turned to for help staying in competition was this man
seen here in instructional videos he posted on his website lawrence nasser an osteopathic physician
was one of the most famous doctors in the world of gymnastics as a trainer and doctor he worked
with olympic and national women's artistic gymnastics teams for more than two decades
that's him right after kerry strugg's famous ankle injury in the 1996 olympics in atlanta
and that's him today since december he's been held without bail in michigan where
he worked at michigan state university sports medicine clinic he's charged with possession of
child pornography and criminal sexual conduct involving the daughter of the family friend
investigators were able to make the case against him because gymnasts went public after years of
silence the police and fbi are now investigating dozens of other cases involving nassar
some decades old others within the last two years dancher off to a great start tonight
jamie dancher says she started seeing dr nasser around 1995 after she became a member of the u.s
junior national team i started having really bad lower back pain on my right side of my back so
i went to him for my back pain what specifically would he do he would put his fingers inside of me
move my leg around he would tell me i was going to feel a pop and that that would put my hips back
and help my back pain how old were you then when he first did that procedure i was either 13 or 14.
i was 15 years old and i had a hip problem a very severe hip problem usa gymnastics suggested that i
go to the crowley ranch to work with their doctor the karoli ranch outside houston texas is a mecca
for elite gymnasts who have given up any semblance of normal childhood to pursue their olympic dreams
run by the legendary coaches bella and marta caroli it's where members of the u.s national
team for artistic gymnastics come roughly once a month for several days of intensive training
the girl stayed in cabins on the property and dr nasser would be there
to provide medical treatment he started massaging me and he had asked me not to wear any underwear
and then he just continued to go into more and more
intimate places and when that happened what what was going through your head i
remember thinking something was off but i didn't feel like i was able to say anything
because he was you know this very high profile doctor and i was very lucky to be at the ranch
working with him did any of the other girls in your cabin talk to you about dr nasser
yes the girls would say yeah he touches you funny i remember being uncomfortable because of the area
but in my mind i was like if this helps i'll do anything did you ever complain to anybody about it
no why not it was treatment you don't complain about treatment
dr nasser has pled not guilty to the charges against him in michigan
in a statement from his lawyers he has defended his treatment as legitimate
there is a rare therapy for back and hip pain where specialists massage areas inside the vagina
but for a minor it's expected such a procedure should involve a chaperone and use of a glove
did he use a glove no and how many times did you have this kind of a procedure i mean it happened
all the way to the olympics in sydney i was 18 from the time you were around 13 or so
until 18. yes and it was just in your mind normal medical treatment
you've got a 52 year old man placing his hand in the vagina of nine-year-olds ungloved for no
good reason wrong california attorney john manley represents the women we interviewed and more than
40 others one as young as nine years old and most under 18 at the time they say they were abused
how many women do you think he did that to we know uh that there are at least 60 that have come
forward my best estimate is it's in the hundreds and possibly more are you saying that members
of the last two olympic teams from rio and from london were affected by dr nasser that they were
abused by him i believe what at the end of the day there are members of every single olympic team
since 1996 he did this too that's what we're going to end up with what makes you so sure about that
because this is somebody who is a serial predator but the story here is that no one was watching
to protect these girls and they put medals and money first by they
manly means usa gymnastics and the corollas he's not arguing they knew anything about sexual abuse
many years went by before the women we interviewed complained to anyone in authority but part of the
reason for that manly argues was a high pressure emotionally abusive environment at the ranch
which he says made it easy for nassar to win the girls trust the story will continue after this
i mean the like yelling and screaming that was like normal
really yeah what kind of abusive things were said to you it was never
good enough you're not good enough the pressure that they put on you to
be perfection for them it was very overwhelming and stressful it was an environment of fear
and he stepped in and became the good guy dr nasser dr nasser did he gave him candy
he gave him encouragement he acted like he cared about them no one else there gave that
impression what were these girls so afraid of not being able to fulfill their dream i mean you've
given up your childhood and you've given up your adolescence to represent your country
and the corollas and the selection team who are there have control on who goes so your fate is
in their hands you must do what they say on behalf of the women attorney manly is suing the karolis
and usa gymnastics for failing to protect their athletes usa gymnastics president steve penny
declined to speak with us on camera about dr nassar in a statement the organization said
it is appalled that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner usa
gymnastics first learned of an athlete's concern about dr nasser in june 2015 the statement said
five weeks later after an internal review it reported him to the fbi and relieved him of
any further assignments usa gymnastics told us it has long had a policy that adult staff
should avoid being alone with a minor how often were you alone with him most of the time just in
the treatment area or also in your bedroom in our um cabins they're like cabins yeah that's
like your bedroom yeah did the karoli's know that dr nasser was alone with you for these treatments
yeah how do you know that well they had to know i mean there
there was no one else sent with him and that's the thing too to think like
what they in in the bed why would it like the treatment was in the bed in my bed that i slept
on at the ranch bella and marta caroli declined to give us an interview but in a statement they said
they were never aware that nassar was performing this procedure or was visiting athletes in their
rooms without supervision they also denied that there was an emotionally abusive environment
at the ranch long before dr nassar's arrest late last year usa gymnastics was facing criticism
over its handling of sexual abuse complaints about coaches at its member gyms throughout the country
according to an investigation published by the indie star in august usa gymnastics received a
complaint that one of its coaches william mccabe should be locked up before someone is raped
but did not report it to the authorities at the time it was only after the mother of a gymnast
called the fbi seven years later that mccabe was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually
exploiting gymnasts marvin sharp was named usa gymnastics women's coach of the year in 2010
but was the subject of a sexual abuse complaint the following year usa gymnastics didn't report
sharp to the police until four years later when another complaint came in
sharp killed himself in jail while facing molestation and child pornography charges
an association has a responsibility or should have a responsibility
and that is to take care of its members and do you think usa gymnastics has done that
no senator dianne feinstein is the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee she's met with
the women we interviewed and other gymnasts and is now working on legislation to correct what she
sees as a problem in the reporting of sexual abuse complaints if an amateur athletic association like
usa gymnastics receives a complaint an allegation they must report it right away to local police
and the united states attorney so this wouldn't apply just to gymnastics it would apply to all
olympic sports that have a national governing body all amateur athletic organizations that's right
what i like about this routine is she has a real variety of skills it's been nearly two
decades since the women we interviewed competed at the highest level of their sport she's a young
new up-and-coming star she has really been having the meat of her life today
they say they're still grappling with the psychological impact of their competitive careers
jeanette antoine told us it was only last year after speaking with other gymnasts that
she realized dr nasser hadn't been helping her with her back pain after all it was like
almost like a light bulb went off like oh my gosh like are you kidding me like i trusted this man
and just knowing
how vulnerable i was as a kid to even not even think
that something like that would be inappropriate just ruined me