Ex-USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and thousands of other convicted sex offenders have been removed from Michigan’s official sex offender registry.
Nassar, 63, who is serving several lengthy prison sentences that will last for decades, used his positions at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University to sexually assault hundreds of athletes.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 9 that amendments in 2021 to the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) can’t be used retroactively to require registration. The law was the target of several state and federal civil rights challenges. Following that ruling, the Michigan State Police scrubbed more than 20,000 offenders whose crimes happened before July 1, 2011, from the online database.
And indeed, searches for “Larry Nassar” and “Lawrence Nassar” on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry yield no results.
Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to 40-to-175 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting the athletes he treated while working for both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.
He was also sentenced to 40-to-125 years in Michigan’s Eaton County, plus 60 years on federal child pornography charges.
The Michigan Supreme Court decision does not impact Nassar’s convictions. In the unlikely event he would ever be released from prison, Nassar is still required to register as a sex offender.
Attorneys with the Eaton County Prosecutor’s office railed against the decision in a statement on Facebook. Eaton County is about 21 miles from Michigan State’s campus, and an Eaton County Circuit Court is where Nassar was sentenced in 2018 after he pled guilty to three counts of first degree criminal sexual assault.
“The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate SORA requirements for these offenders is deeply concerning. Our community, along with the victims of these crimes, expected the registry to provide a measure of protection and awareness — assurances that have now been removed by the Court’s ruling,” the statement read. “Reversion to the version in existence in 2011 was an option for the court and would have allowed for sex offenders to remain on the registry. Rather the court chose to toss the scalpel aside and use a chainsaw.”
Nassar joined the USA Gymnastics national team medical staff in 1986 and was later appointed national medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics. He worked with the team at Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Beijing (2008) before retiring in 2014. He became a team physician and assistant professor at Michigan State in 1997 before being fired in 2016.
More than 150 women shared their experiences of abuse as part of an award-winning Indy Star/USA TODAY Network investigation series about how Nassar assaulted the athletes he treated for both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State. Nassar was convicted of abusing gymnasts under the premise of giving them medical exams. Nassar's accusers included Olympic gold medal winners such as Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman.
Nassar is currently being held at the U.S. Penitentiary Lewisburg in Union County, Pennsylvania. He was stabbed eight times in a Florida prison in 2023.