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Larry Nassar and former USA Gymnastics trainer indicted in Texas

Posted at 6:00 PM, Jun 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-29 18:00:22-04

Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, and former USA Gymnastics trainer Deborah Van Horn were indicted in Texas Friday on charges of sexual assault of a child at the Karolyi Ranch, where for decades numerous Olympians have trained.

Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, and former USG trainer Deborah Van Horn were indicted in Texas Friday on charges of sexual assault of a child at the Karolyi Ranch, where young gymnasts trained.

Training center owners Martha and Bela Karolyi, who denied any wrongdoing, are not facing charges, said prosecutors in Walker County, Texas.

“We do not believe there is any corroborative evidence with regard to Martha or Bela Karolyi that they did anything wrong,” Walker County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Stroud said at a news conference.

Nassar faces six counts of sexual assault of a child, each a second-degree felony, and Van Horn faces one count of sexual assault of a child in the second degree.

One of Nassar’s victims in this case is the same victim that Van Horn is charged with assaulting, officials said at a news conference.

Walker County prosecutors said Van Horn’s charges stem from “acting as a party.” She is not in custody at this time but her attorney has been notified, they said.

CNN is seeking comments from lawyers for Nassar and Van Horn.

Nassar, who also served as a doctor for Michigan State University, is already in prison, having been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in Michigan in January. More than 150 women and girls said in court that he sexually abused them over the past two decades.

When asked if Nassar will actually face trial in Texas, Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said, “If we can.”

Last May, some of Nassar’s victims called on Texas officials to investigate what USA Gymnastics coach Martha Karolyi knew about Nassar’s abuse while they trained at the Karolyi Ranch.

It became the US Women’s National Team Training Center in 2001 and a US Olympic Training Site in 2011 — during many of the same years Nassar was the national team doctor.

The women and attorneys said that Martha Karolyi and her husband, Bela, the longtime gymnastics coaches, knew about Nassar’s abuse in June 2015 yet failed to protect the girls.

Stroud said the Karolyis were interviewed at length and continue to cooperate with authorities.

“Karolyi ranch has been painted with a brush that will not be allowed to be forgotten,” Weeks said. “And Nassar did not work for them.”

Stroud said the continuing investigation focuses on USA Gymnastics.

“Dr. Nassar worked for them (the USAG),” Weeks said. “They received information and did not act on it timely and didn’t inform other people like the Karolyis that was what was going on.”