What Happened To Larry Nassar's Family After He Was Sentenced To Prison?

In 2021, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics were ordered to pay $380 million in damages brought against the organization by 90 high-profile female gymnasts, including Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Aly Raisman, among others (via The Washington Post). Those gymnasts were allegedly abused by Larry Nassar, a former doctor with USA Gymnastics, the U.S governing body for the sport that oversees team selection for both the Olympics and the World Championships, among other events. That same group of athletes has now brought a $1 billion suit against the FBI for mishandling their initial complaints against Nassar in 2015, which allegedly allowed that abuse to continue, as The Washington Post goes on to explain.

During the period in which this abuse took place, Larry Nassar was married to Stephanie Nassar, with whom he had three children (per The Sun). Another related lawsuit was brought by the abused gymnasts against Michigan State University, where Larry Nassar worked and with which his clinic was affiliated. MSU settled the case for $500 million, as the Lansing State Journal reports. Larry Nassar pled guilty in 2017 and was sentenced to up to 360 years in jail on various sex abuse and child pornography charges. Here's why his wife, Stephanie, was also named in that lawsuit against Michigan State, with an update on where she and the children are now. 

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Stephanie Nassar (born Stephanie Anderson, via Women's Health) married Larry Nassar in 1996. She graduated from Michigan State University and later from the University of Detroit with a graduate degree from its physician assistant program. Larry Nassar also graduated from Michigan State in 1985 and operated a clinic and gymnastics club affiliated with the school. During this time, he also served as medical staff for USA Gymnastics, according to The Sun. Little is known about how much or how little Stephanie Nassar was aware of her husband's behavior.

What is known is that Larry and Stephanie Nassar maintained a friendship with the parents of one of Larry Nassar's alleged victims, according to NPR. Two of Larry Nassar's accusers were also at Larry and Stephanie Nassar's wedding in 1996, as The Sun goes on to explain. The Nassar household seemed normal, and on Sundays, Stephanie Nassar and Kyle Stephens' mother cooked dinner together for the two families, as one of Larry Nassar's accusers, Kyle Stephens (pictured), remembered to NPR. Stephens later alleged that her father took his own life when the extent of his daughter's abuse was uncovered, based on reporting from Reuters.

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Supporting the fact that Stephanie Nassar may not have known the level of abuse her husband allegedly perpetrated on hundreds of young women, she filed for and was granted divorce in 2017, two years after the alleged victims of Larry Nassar first approached the FBI with their complaint, according to In Touch Weekly. She was also given custody of the couple's three children. Amanda Thomashow first came forward with abuse accusations to MSU three years before that.

Through the ensuing Title IX investigation based on Tomashow's allegations, which Stephanie Nassar was likely aware of, it was ruled that no abuse took place and that Thomashow was simply confused about the difference between sexual assault and an appropriate medical procedure performed by Nassar, per the Lansing State Journal. Stephanie Nassar's divorce was granted one year before her husband was convicted of assaulting more than 100 young athletes (per In Touch Weekly). At the sentencing, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said (via ESPN), "It is my honor and privilege to sentence you."

Today, Stephanie Nassar keeps a low profile and is widely reported to maintain her accreditation and to continue work as a physician's assistant in the East Lansing arena, per Women's Health. Neither Stephanie Nassar nor her three children were present at Larry Nassar's hearing and sentencing, as The Sun reports. At the time Larry's lawsuit was settled against the Michigan State University lawsuit — in which Stephanie was named — it was reportedly the largest ever settlement reached in such a case, according to The New York Times.

Once the settlement was reached, the school then MSU insurers to help cover the cost, based on reporting from The State News, the MSU student newspaper. The board of trustees also agreed to sell bonds to raise funds for the expense, according to Michigan State University spokesperson Emily Guerrant (via The State News). "After the Nassar settlements were made with survivors, the university bonded for additional money to pay these settlements (similar to borrowing). Any money we get through settlements with the insurance companies, the university uses to pay back what we've borrowed," she said.

Stephanie Nassar was named in the lawsuit brought against Michigan State University because a plaintiff in the case, Alaina Bamfield, alleged that Stephanie referred her to Larry's clinic at Michigan State University where she was later abused, as Michigan news outlet Fox47 reports. In her victim impact statement, Bamfield said (via Detroit News), "I didn't know at 13 that sexual abuse was more than just having unwanted sex," and then, directed at Larry Nassar, "Your true judgment day will be with the Lord, and if I was you, I'd start making my peace with the man upstairs."

During the trial, some of Larry Nassar's accusers spoke out in support of Stephanie and the couple's three children, as Michigan-based reporter Lauren Gibbons, who covered the trial in 2018, wrote on Twitter. At the time that she took the stand, Larry Nassar accuser Trinea Gonczar allegedly said, "I cannot believe what you have done to [Stephanie Nassar], what you have done to her family — our family. My heart hurts for her and the kids every single day." Along with Larry Nassar accuser Sarah Klein, Gonzcar was one of two victims purportedly at Stephanie and Larry's wedding (per Women's Health).