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4thesakeofthekids ago

On Wednesday, former rhythmic gymnastics champion Jessica Howard wrote an essay in The New York Times condemning USA Gymnastics for what she called a “crippling” tolerance of abuse, which she experienced nearly 18 years ago.

Howard, a Florida native, alleged she was 15 when the national team’s doctor, Larry Nassar, sexually abused her.

Nassar was arrested in December on federal child pornography charges and was accused last month of 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He has pleaded not guilty. Officials say more than 80 women allege he sexually abused them.

On March 3, the Indianapolis Star obtained roughly 5,600 pages of USA Gymnastics records revealing the organization waited years to ban some 54 coaches who were the subjects of sexual abuse complaints. USA Gymnastics took five weeks to fire Nassar and notify the FBI of a complaint against him in 2015, according to CBS.