John Gathert, former women’s gym coach, accused of sexual abuse of women on the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team with Dr. Larry Nassar, committed sexual abuse within hours of prosecution on the 25th (local time). US officials said he killed himself at the Michigan gymnasium, which used to be the site of the school.
Gathert was scheduled to appear in the Eaton County court near Lansing that day.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nesall said, “I received a report that the body of Gathert, who made an extreme choice, was found late this afternoon.” “It’s a tragic end to a tragic story,” said Minister Nessel.
Nesserl previously announced that Gathert was charged with 24 crimes, including sexual assault, human trafficking, and running a criminal company. These charges were recently raised in connection with the sexual abuse scandal of former Michigan State University sports doctor Nassar, who is currently in prison.
Gathert, 63, won a gold medal in a team competition in 2012 as the manager of the women’s Olympic gymnastics team. He was a long-time friend of Nassar, who was the chief physician of the Olympic team and healed injuries to gymnasts.
Gathert was accused of lying to his wife and investigators that he had never heard complaints from players about Nassar in 2016, but most of the lawsuits were about how he handled young players.
Attorney General Daniel Hagerman-Clark said, “The charges against Gather have little to do with Nassar.”
Gathert was accused of committing crimes in the form of human trafficking, using his fame in gymnastics to earn money through forced labor of young athletes.
“The victims suffered from bulimia and anorexia, suicide and self-harm attempts, excessive physical illness, uninjured training forced, extreme emotional abuse, and sexual assault.”