Simone Biles Thanks Judge Aquilina After Larry Nassar Sentencing: ‘You Are My Hero’
January 24, 2018Former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing women and girls for years. And now one of his most high-profile victims has taken to Instagram to thank the judge who presided over the case.
Simone Biles, who accused Nassar of sexual abuse in a lengthy letter published to Twitter on January 15, is one of more than 150 women who spoke out against the former team doctor leading up to the sentencing. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of Michigan’s Ingham County Circuit Court sentenced the 54-year-old on Wednesday.
“Your crimes have cut into the core of this community and families and many we don’t know,” Aquilina said before handing down the sentence. “There was no medical treatment. You did this for your pleasure and your control. You still think that somehow you are right … I wouldn’t send my dogs to you, sir.”
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Aquilina later added: “It was my honor and privilege to sentence you… I just signed your death warrant.”
Biles took to Instagram and Twitter to show her gratitude to Judge Aquilina shortly after the sentencing, posting a picture of Aquilina along with her message to the dozens of victimized women and girls: “Leave your pain here. Go out and do your magnificent things.”
“Thank you, you are my hero,” Biles wrote in capital letters in the post. “Although there is not a scripted path to healing. I know it makes me feel relieved that he can no longer hurt any more beautiful souls”