Larry Nassar survivors awarded Arthur Ashe Courage Award
ESPN announced in May that the sexual assault survivors who spoke out against their abuser, Larry Nassar, would receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at this year's ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards show on Wednesday, July 18 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
They did just that.
A total of 141 survivors took the stage at the Microsoft Theater at around 10:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening for actress Jennifer Garner to present them with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Three of those survivors, Sarah Klein, Tiffany Thomas Lopez and Aly Raisman, gave brief but inspirational speeches.
Nassar, 54, is currently serving the first of three prison sentences that he was given over the past few months. That sentence is a 60-year federal prison sentence that he was issued this past December on three child pornography charges, and he is serving it at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, a maximum-security federal prison that offers a sex offender program.
On a side note, wouldn't it have been great if the disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician would have been forced to watch the presentation of the award?
In January, Nassar was also issued a state prison sentence for between 40 and 175 years on seven sexual assault charges following a seven-day sentencing hearing during which 169 people, including 156 of the survivors themselves, delivered victim impact statements in front of him in an Ingham County, Michigan courtroom.
In February, Nassar was issued another state prison for between an additional 40 and 125 years on three more sexual assault charges following a three-day sentencing hearing during which 65 more people delivered victim impact statements in front of him in an Eaton County, Michigan courtroom.
Last month, Nassar was charged with six counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child in Texas.