Honorable Janet T.

Neff
110 Michigan St NW
Courtroom 401 Federal Building
Grand Rapids, MI, 49503

Re: Victim Impact Statement of Erin Maroney

Dear Judge Neff,

Your Honor, my name is Erin Maroney, and I am McKayla Maroneys mother. I am

writing this letter on behalf of my entire family, and Im asking, and pleading with you to give
Lawrence Nassar the maximum sentence possible under the plea agreement.

The U.S. Attorney recommended that McKayla agree to this plea agreement, which
eliminated the possibility of Nassar being charged at the federal level, with McKaylas
molestations in California, Connecticut, Texas, at the Olympic Games and at various locations
all over the world while she was competing for our country. After thoughtful consideration she
agreed to this request in the hopes that Nassar would receive a lengthy sentence that would
effectively prevent him from ever again having the opportunity to prey upon a child.

I respectfully ask that you consider the following, as you determine Nassars sentence.

McKayla was born on December 9th, 1995, and it wasnt too long after she learned how
to walk, that we realized she was very agile and coordinated for her age. She had a ton of
energy, she was always on the go, so at 18 months, I placed her in a Mommy and Me, gym
class in hopes to put some of her energy to good use, and perhaps even tire her out. Instead,
what happened though, she became stronger and faster, and she never looked back. Then one
fateful day, as she watched our countrys gymnasts on TV during the Summer Olympics, her
eyes lit up! She told her Dad and I that she was going to be an Olympian and compete for Team
USA and win a gold medal. She wanted to stand on that podium and hear our National anthem
played and see our flag raised. It would be her honor to our country.

We have always instilled the love of country in our children. As parents, we could not
have been more proud of our daughters accomplishments as a representative of our country. At
the time we hadnt realized the terrible price she would have to pay. Years ago, I actually served
as a hospital corpsman in the United States Navy. I was born in Michigan and I joined through
the Detroit, Michigan depot. It was important for me to serve my country, I am proud of it, and I
have nothing but respect for those who have also served. I never in my wildest dreams thought I
would return to Michigan to a sentencing of my childs rapist.

McKaylas first competition was at age 7. Her dream was to become an Olympic
Champion. She trained thousands of hours. Most days she trained six to eight hours a
day. Weekends and most holidays, it didnt matter, she wanted to train. She did not attend
school at her coachs request, and instead was home schooled. She never went to a high school
dance, nor enjoyed any of the other pleasant childhood activities most of us can recall. She made
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the choice to sacrifice a traditional childhood to pursue her gymnastics career. McKaylas hard
work and determination paid off. She made the United States national team at age 14 in
2010. She won a world championship in Tokyo in 2011. She is a world champion, an Olympic
Gold and Silver Medalist and won countless competitions as a competitive gymnast both
individually and for US teams. We know now during all of this time on the national team, the
US World Team and the US Olympic Teams she was being sexually assaulted under the guise of
medical treatment by the Defendant, Lawrence Nassar.

Whenever we could, her father and I traveled nationally and internationally, at our own
expense, attending her competitions and supporting her. Her brother and sister made huge
sacrifices of time and attention to support their sisters gymnastics career.

We went to these competitions to support her, and to be there just in case she needed us
to protect her. During travel abroad, we were not allowed to stay with McKayla. We were
always in separate hotels. At most we were allowed to see her for an hour, after the competitions
were over. We were never allowed to accompany her for her training while at the US Olympic
Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch. USA Gymnastics and the Karolyis had a system in place,
which from the outside looking in, for years, had been extremely successful. Who was I to
question them? In hindsight, I should have questioned.

My husband once questioned the propriety of the isolation of the girls during
international travel. He was assured by Steve Penny that the girls were safe at all times. More
safe than the President of the USA, he said to him. We now know that this was a lie. The truth
is, there was no security in most locations for our daughter. There was no one in charge of
protecting the girls from harm at the Karolyi Ranch, nor anywhere else. The Defendant was
allowed by those in charge at USA Gymnastics to enter my childs hotel room. He did this all
over the world, in her room at the Karolyi Ranch and other locations throughout the United
States. No one stopped him, no one questioned him. Not Steven Penny, not Marta Karolyi,
absolutely no one. Incredibly in the last few months Ive even come to learn the Defendant
molested my child in her apartment at the Olympic village in London.

I also learned a few weeks ago from my daughter that at the world championships in
Tokyo the Defendant drugged her, made her lay nude on a treatment table, straddled her and
digitally penetrated her while rubbing his erect penis against her. She was only 15 years
old. She said to me Mom I thought I was going to die. I cannot tell you the anguish her Dad
and I feel over this, and the responsibility we feel for not being aware of this, or being able to
stop it.

The other stunning revelation that has devastated our family is the knowledge that
McKayla and many of the other girls the Defendant molested should never have met Nassar. His
conduct was well known to Michigan State University as it was reported numerous times to
MSU officials before McKayla even met him. It was actually reported to officials in the 1990s!
How does that happen?
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Nassars inappropriate conduct was also known to USA Gymnastics officials. He was
not supervised; his licenses were not checked and he kept no medical records of his treatment, of
these young gymnasts. Apparently, and obviously, he was not properly supervised by the U.S.
Olympic Committee, even though they officially cleared him to treat our daughter and her
teammates. The revelation of McKaylas abuse has devastated our family. It has devastated
McKaylas siblings and worst of all it has destroyed her emotionally and nearly snuffed out the
inner light of this beautiful loving human being.

Respectfully, your honor, our daughter was totally failed by USA Gymnastics, by
Michigan State University (the Defendants employer) and by the U.S. Olympic Committee. No
one from the USOC has ever reached out to me or my husband or my daughter to inquire about
her wellbeing. Not once. No one has apologized. Notably in the Defendants statement to the
court on sentencing he states he apologizes to the community. He never once apologized to
my daughter or the hundreds of other little girls he molested. He clearly has no genuine remorse
for his crimes and he never will.

The US Olympic Committee goes to great lengths to ensure a pure sport by preventing
athletes from using performance enhancing substances and that is something I fully support.
When McKayla was competing, she would be tested at our home at all hours of the day or night
on a weekly or bi-monthly basis. Of course, we fully complied. If they committed the same
resources to protecting my daughters safety and the safety of her fellow athletes I might not be
writing this letter.

Equally disturbing is the lack of accountability of the USOC, Michigan State University
and USA Gymnastics. None of them have accepted any responsibility for what happened to
McKayla and her teammates. Instead they have made public relations statements. The President
of Michigan State Lou Anna Simon actually said, its impossible to detect a pedophile and
people make mistakes in direct response to the revelation the Defendant molested dozens of
little girls including my child. She has not terminated anyone associated with protecting Dr.
Nassar. USA Gymnastics has denied any responsibility and the US Olympic Committee
President Scott Blackman and its Board have said Unfortunately, this predator was not
identified by any organization during the time in question.

I would say that it is more than unfortunate, it is absolutely criminal. Some of the most
famous American Olympians were molested on their watch and at the Olympic Games where
they were charged with protecting my daughter. Shame on all of them for not accepting
responsibility for their actions. Those with the knowledge that the Defendant was putting his
ungloved hand into the vaginas and rectums of little girls and said nothing or covered it up are as
responsible for the Defendants abuse as he is.

In July of 2015 McKayla was contacted by a woman named Fran Sepler. We were told
by Steve Penny that she was a private investigator for USA Gymnastics. McKayla told Fran
Sepler her story at a meeting in Long Beach. Nassar was not allowed at the National
Championships that year. At one point we were informed that Nassar was no longer with USA
Gymnastics. Unknown to McKayla or us, they allowed Nassar to put out a cover story that he
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was resigning from USAG. He wanted to do more work on the research, side of things, less
patient care, and to spend more time with his family. USA Gymnastics and the USOC kept the
knowledge of his status as child molester secret not only from Michigan State University after
2015 and even said nothing when he ran for school board in his local school district!

This experience has been shattering to McKayla. She has transformed from a bubbly,
positive, loving, world class athlete into a young adult who was deeply depressed, at times
suicidal and essentially descended into an emotional abyss. At times I was unsure whether I
would open her bedroom door and find her dead. Her father and I have been living this
nightmare for years and until recently we felt hopeless. Nassar and those individuals and
institutions that protected him almost snuffed out my daughter. For several years she has been
unable to work and for months on end didnt leave our home, or even her room.

Thankfully, many other victims have come forward and the Michigan Attorney Generals
office along with the Michigan State police served search warrants and were able to get his
computers which led to todays sentencing. This revelation that McKayla was not alone, along
with the outpouring of love and support following her public statement that Nassar abused her,
seems to be aiding her recovery. She is by no means herself again but thanks to many prayers
and the hard work of courageous law enforcement officials, she and we have hope for her
healing.

Mckayla and our family pray and ask that you impose the maximum sentence because its
what he justly deserves. You, as the judge in this case, have an opportunity to really make a
difference in my life, to my daughters life, and to all people out there suffering from the abuse
of child molesters. In my opinion, Nassar is not a doctor, hes a child molester who spent years
skillfully creating an environment for himself which would afford him the ability to flourish as a
child molester. The Defendant used his prominent position of trust to assault young girls for his
own perverse pleasure. His sentencing memorandum demonstrates conclusively that neither he
nor his family understand that he is a horrible predator. There letters of support essentially
outline what I know to be sexual grooming behavior. His relatives talk about how he would
volunteer at church, stay after hours to help children, and so forth. All of these activities revolve
around children which he wanted to molest.

In addition, the volume of the child pornography found is staggering. Its a disgusting
thought, but 37,000 images would equal a large football stadium filled with just little girls. How
sick is that! How many more images were on his computer at Michigan State University that he
erased? Were McKaylas images on there? Were his other victims? Did he trade those images
with other pedophiles? Are those images on the dark web today? These are questions that keep
my husband and I up at night. I know this also haunts my daughter. Will she wake up one day to
find an image of her 13-year-old self being assaulted on the internet? This is what our family
must live with and it will never go away.

Please, we beg you, I beg you, please impose the maximum sentence for the sake of my
child, for the poor children in these depraved images and for the countless others the Defendant
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hurt. Anything less is not justice, Your Honor. Please dont fail my child like so many other
institutions who were supposed to protect her.

Thank you for your consideration of my opinion.

Respectfully,

Erin Maroney