HOUSTON – A Travis County woman’s lawsuit asserting she was among the gymnasts Dr. Lawrence Gerard “Larry” Nassar sexually assaulted is now under federal jurisdiction.
The Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas took over Rebecca Whitehurst’s suit targeting Nassar and others on June 5. The U.S. Olympic Committee reportedly requested the removal from the Harris County 157th District Court.
A former elite minor gymnast and a member of USA Gymnastics, Whitehurst claims Nassar touched her inappropriately, as well as penetrated her private parts in an unsanitary manner and without her or her parents’ consent after she began seeking treatment from him as a teenager more than 20 years ago.
“(Whitehurst) believes the conduct of Nassar was sexual assault, abuse, and molestation, and for Nassar’s pleasure and self-gratification,” her suit states.
The plaintiff’s coaches at Cypress Academy purportedly recommended she see the defendant physician.
Nassar was implicated in the USAG sex abuse scandal, in which he was accused of assaulting nearly 300 girls and young women since 1992. Among his most notable victims was three-time Olympic gold medal winner Aly Raisman.
The convicted serial child molester is currently serving more than 100 years in prison.
Harris County District Court records show that USAG formally countered Whitehurst’s allegations on May 25.
The governing body argues “that others are proportionally responsible for the plaintiff’s alleged injuries.”
“(The) plaintiff was injured by an unforeseeable criminal act of a third person,” its original answer says.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:18-CV-1842