When Larry Nassar walked into Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s courtroom for sentencing, he had no idea what he was in for. In a remarkable hearing, the judge allowed more than 150 women to tell Nassar face to face about the abuse they say was committed by the former USA Gymnastics doctor. For seven days, they spoke, one after another. Then, after the last victim, it was the judge’s turn. And she had a lot to say. Judge Aquilina spoke for 37 minutes about the magnitude of what Nassar had done and how in the end the sentence she was handing down was akin to signing Nassar’s “death warrant.” Simone Biles, an Olympic gold medalist and one of Nassar’s victims took to Twitter to thank the judge.
To Judge Aquilina : THANK YOU, YOU ARE MY HERO
&
Shout out to all of the survivors for being so brave & speaking like the queens that you are while looking at that monster. He will no longer have the power to steal our happiness or joy. I stand with every one of you 💛 pic.twitter.com/b5SMmjZgeW
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 24, 2018
Watch Judge Aquilina’s full statement above.