McKayla Maroney alleges she was sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics team doctor

Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney has joined more than 100 American athletes alleging abuse inside USA Gymnastics. Early Wednesday morning, Maroney posted her #MeToo story on Twitter. The 21-year-old wrote that she was molested by Dr. Larry Nassar, who worked with USA Gymnastics for almost 20 years, beginning when she was 13.

Maroney’s decision to share her story comes as a part of the “#MeToo” movement of people sharing their stories, which gained momentum following a New York Times story detailing decades of sexual assault and harassment by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Maroney detailed the difficulty coming forward, but being inspired by the stories of other women, “Everyone’s words over the past few days have been so inspiring to me,” she said, “I know how hard it is to speak about something so horrible, and so personal, because it’s happened to me too.”

Allegations against Nassar began to surface in September 2016, when former gymnast Rachael Denhollander reached out to the IndyStar to tell her story of alleged sexual abuse by the doctor. The newspaper discovered a second survivor willing to speak about the alleged abuse inside the program, which sparked a year of more and more women sharing their stories. In that time more than 100 women have stepped forward to detail Nassar’s abuse, with Maroney being the name most Americans would remember due to her performance during the 2012 Olympics in London.

“Dr. Nassar told me that I was receiving “medically necessary treatment that he has been performing on patients for over 30 years,” Maroney said, “It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first National Team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport.”

USA Gymnastics cut lies with Nassar when allegations first became public in 2016, releasing the following statement at the time:

“Dr. Nassar is no longer affiliated with USA Gymnastics. Upon learning of athlete concerns, USA Gymnastics immediately notified law enforcement. Since then, we have cooperated fully with the law enforcement agency, including refraining from making further statements or taking any other action that might interfere with the agency’s investigation. We are grateful to the athletes for coming forward to share their concerns.”

It’s unclear if the latest revelation from Maroney will move federal prosecutors to pursue new charges for Nassar. The doctor accepted a plea deal in July that would have him serve a combined sentence of 22-27 years for possession of child pornography, rather than charge him with sexual assault — a widely-criticized move prosecutors justified by saying that many of the allegations they heard occurred overseas, where they have no jurisdiction.

Aly Raisman, three-time Olympic gold medalist and captain of the 2012 and 2016 women’s gymnastic team slammed USA Gymnastics in August for their handling of the allegations against Nassar.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the Olympic champion or you’re an 8-year-old that goes to gymnastics in Ohio, or wherever you are in the United States,” Raisman said. “Every single kid is important, and I want USA Gymnastics to do a better job with that.”

USA Gymnastics has not yet responded to Maroney’s allegations. Nassar is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 27 in regards to the child pornography charges he accepted in the plea deal.