Judge Rosemarie Aquilina looks at Larry Nassar as he listens to a victim's impact statement by Jennifer Rood Bedford prior to being sentenced on Jan.16, 2018, in Lansing, Mich.Scott Olson/Getty Images
The judge who presided over the trial of Larry Nassar, the disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor convicted of sexually assaulting athletes, says allegations of abuse by Canadian gymnasts must be investigated outside of the sport system.
In a video sent to Canadian gymnasts supporting their call for an independent investigation into alleged problems within their sport, Justice Rosemarie Aquilina said Ottawa must ensure any such probe is handled independently of the sport’s governing body.
“I strongly encourage Sport Canada and the Canadian Sport Minister to yield to the call of athletes, to instigate an independent third-party investigation, where all documents are turned over, where the athletes approve what’s happening, where they have a say, where they are a part of the investigation,” Justice Aquilina said in the three-minute video.
“I know the importance of offering all victims a safe place to tell their story, to be believed, to be heard and for action to then happen. This is why an investigation must be completely outside the current Canadian sport system.”
Last week, a group of 71 past and present Canadian gymnasts, including 10 Olympians, sent an open letter to Sport Canada asking for an independent probe into alleged cases of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, which they said were the result of poorly designed policies and a toxic culture in the sport.
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After posting a statement supporting them on social media last week, Justice Aquilina, a circuit-court judge in Michigan, addressed the athletes directly in the video: “To all the gymnast athletes in Canada, I want you to know that I hear you, I see you, I support you, I’m listening, I stand with you.”
Known as an outspoken judge, Justice Aquilina made headlines during the 2018 Nassar trial when she called the former Team USA doctor delusional and suggested he “still didn’t get it,” after he said it was too hard to listen to multiple victim statements from the more than 150 gymnasts who accused him of assault.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who presided over the sexual assault trial of disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, recorded a video of support to Canadian gymnasts seeking an investigation into various abuse problems in their sport. 'I hear you, I see you, I support you.'
The Globe and Mail
She sentenced him to 175 years, saying, “You do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again” before adding, “I just signed your death warrant.” On Twitter, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, one of the most prominent victims, called the judge her hero.
The Canadian gymnasts have not made their allegations known as part of the open letter, since several are not comfortable disclosing their cases in public. The letter has now received signatures from more than 300 past and present athletes, coaches and others, the group said on Sunday.
Gymnasts who spoke with The Globe and Mail described a variety of problems that have existed over the past decade or more, ranging from physical abuse, including being forced to train while injured, to verbal, psychological and sexual abuse, including cases that have not been properly addressed.
Gymnastics Canada issued a statement last week saying it was troubled by the letter.
“While we are saddened to learn that dozens of athletes feel that we failed to address these issues, we are committed to continuing to educate and advocate for system-wide reforms that will help ensure all participants feel respected, included and safe,” the Gymnastics Canada board of directors said. “We agree that many more supports must be in place to address unsafe practices in sport.”
The gymnasts’ letter was the latest example of athletes speaking out. Last month, bobsleigh and skeleton athletes issued an open letter, alleging physical and mental abuse, and calling on top officials to resign. In December, synchronized swimmers detailed to The Globe how coaches used questionable sports science to push them to lose dangerous amounts of weight, leaving some in hospital and others with lifelong health problems.
On Thursday, Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge said there was a crisis in the sport system in Canada that needed to be confronted, and called an emergency meeting of top sports officials, including the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees and several groups representing athletes.
In the six months since she was appointed, Ms. St-Onge said she has heard of at least eight cases of maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse and misuse of funds inside Canada’s national sports organizations. The Globe has since learned that those eight organizations include: gymnastics, synchronized swimming, bobsleigh and skeleton, rowing, rugby, athletics, wrestling and curling.
The federal government has created a new complaints office to independently investigate allegations of abuse in sport, which will be overseen by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC). In January, Ms. St-Onge said she would make the new office mandatory for all of Canada’s more than 60 national sport organizations.
Prior to that change, those organizations could opt out of the process and appoint their own investigators. However, athletes told The Globe they didn’t trust a system that wasn’t fully independent.
The SDRCC is believed to be the federal government’s preferred option for investigating the gymnasts’ complaints when the new office begins operating this spring. However, the gymnasts are concerned that the SDRCC’s role is to investigate abuse allegations case by case as they arise, but its mandate would not allow a broader investigation into systemic problems in their sport.
Among the items the gymnasts want addressed, which may be outside the SDRCC’s purview, are policy changes that will prevent clubs from holding closed practices, particularly for young children, where parents can’t observe. This is for “both athlete and coach safety,” the gymnasts said in an e-mail to The Globe.
The gymnasts want rules put in place so that coaches suspended for wrongdoing can’t attend club practices or competitions, which they say has been a problem in the past. As well, those under suspension should be listed on federal and provincial gymnastics websites, with information on what the penalties are for, so that parents and athletes are aware.
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