On Wednesday afternoon, former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison on seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
Prior to his sentencing, 169 victims and family members gave emotional, cathartic and riveting testimony before the now-disgraced doctor, who is accused of serial sexual abuse by over 140 women. Their statements made for a powerful show of solidarity and sisterhood.
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To honor these survivors and their stories, HuffPost compiled some of the most moving images and quotes from Nassar’s week-long sentence hearing. The images from the Lansing, Michigan, courtroom capture the rage, sadness and resilience of Nassar’s brave survivors.
Scroll below to see some of the most powerful photos from Nassar’s week-long sentence hearing.
Mattie Larson
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"You took complete advantage of my innocence. Your kindness was simply a ploy to molest me every chance you got. I can’t even put into words how much I fucking hate you.”
Olivia Cowan
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"MSU knew what was being done to these athletes and decided to turn a blind eye to keep their reputation strong and their pockets full."
Hannah Morrow
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“Life handed me lemons, and you best believe, I am well prepared to make some lemonade. You cannot break me.”
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Kyle Stephens
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“Little girls don’t stay little forever. They turn into strong women that return to destroy your world."
Helena Weick
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"What kind of person has the audacity to sexually assault a child in front of their mother? The kind of person who should spend the rest of his life in prison."
Maddie and Kara Johnson
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“I felt so lucky that I got to see the same doctor as all of my idols in the gymnastics world." -- Maddie Johnson
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Emily Morales
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"Although you have hurt me, I want to forgive you and feel closure and move on to healing in my life."
Megan Ginter
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“I am done being ashamed of something that was out of my control.”
Donna Markham for Chelsea Markham
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"In 2009 she took her own life because she couldn’t deal with the pain anymore. It will be 10 years in March that I lost my baby. She was 23 years old… Every day I miss her. Every day. And it all started with him."
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Annette Hill
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"Larry, you are a menace to society."
Aly Raisman
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force, and you are nothing. The tables have turned, Larry. We are here and we are not going anywhere.”
Chelsea Zerfas
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"It hurt me most when I found out you hurt my teammates. I considered them my family."
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Katie Rasmussen
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"They didn't understand how such a respectable doctor could do something like that. I don't understand how a 14-year-old could make that up."
Amanda Cormier
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"This is between you and God."
Amanda Thomashow
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I knew that he abused me. I reported it. Michigan State University had the audacity to tell me I did not understand the difference between sexual assault and a medical procedure.”
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Jordyn Wieber
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I thought that training for the Olympics would be hardest thing I would ever have to do. But the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar."
Jennifer Rood-Bedford
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I want to stand with all the women who came before me and all the women who came after me. If only to say: You’re not alone."
Gwen Anderson
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I’ve come to realize this moment is not my weakest moment. This is my moment of strength. This is my time to close the chapter of being a victim and open the chapter of being a survivor.”
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Kayla Spycher
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"You took away my worth, my privacy, my innocence ... and my own voice, until today."
Chelsea Williams
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"Problematic cultural aspects of elite gymnastics -- obedience, unimaginable pain and silent suffering -- were expertly manipulated by Larry Nassar to identify, abuse and control his victims; not once, but systematically over their lifetimes in the sport."
Jennifer Hayes
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I have invisible wounds that have forever changed my life. I am changing that today. You stole my confidence and self-worth, but I am regaining it. You will not break my core and you no longer have power over me"
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Carrie Hogan
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I am broken. I am tired. I feel like the life has literally been sucked out of me. I am in desperate need of healing."
Jessica Smith
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"The trauma that the abuse has caused me, my family, and my community can
never be undone. Yet what allows me to get out of bed each day is the hope of
creating a better and safer environment around me."
never be undone. Yet what allows me to get out of bed each day is the hope of
creating a better and safer environment around me."
Lindsey Lemke
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"You abused us and you don’t even remember. That’s sickening.”
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Jeanette Antolin
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"Those little girls that you took advantage of so easily have now come back to haunt you, all the days of your life."
Lyndsy Carr
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“I was a carefree, silly little girl until this happened, and afterwards there was a cloud, and the cloud has followed me into every relationship in my life, especially the most important ones.”
Clasina Syrovy
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"When girls came forward and told an adult, the adults didn't listen. Why didn't they listen? What good is it to teach children to tell an adult if the grown-up doesn't listen, doesn't take action?"
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Krista Wakeman
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I feel my own sense of guilt because I was 16 years old, and I should have stopped this monster from hurting other girls, because I knew that what he did to me was wrong."
Melody Posthuma
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"I really believe there are thousands who were affected and will continue to be affected by this."
Rachael Denhollander
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
"When I came out, my sexual assault was wielded as a weapon against me."
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Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.