The Larry Nassar Sentencing Hearing and the Larger Problems in Our Culture: A Pandora’s Box

At the sentencing hearing of Larry Nassar, he told the Court that he was a “good doctor” and that the victims returned to him for more treatment. This externalization of blame, objectification of the victim and non-acceptance of responsibility for these actions  is common with predatory sex offenders. Aside from Dr. Nassar's alleged actions with the victims, it has been reported that individuals at Michigan State University allegedly deleted information and enabled this scenario to continue as reported by Pardon the Interruption (PTI).

Sex offenders are dissociated from their feelings, intellectual and rationalize their actions (they are very much in their head). As we heard on PTI today, this cover up of egregious abuse is also seen with universities such as Baylor and Penn State. Perhaps as noted on PTI today, this is a larger problem in our culture related to treatment of women. The NCAA must demand accountability and mete out appropriate discipline. This type of enabling behavior results in harm to others much like failure to protect students. Congress needs to enact laws to codify these actions into crimes. Unfortunately, the healing process for the victims is only just beginning. ESPN’s Outside the Lines article determined an investigation that detailed incidents in the basketball and football programs at Michigan State University (MSU) in what is called “ a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression by officials”. Is over 100 courageous victims coming forward enough to stop this? Penn State, Baylor, etc., the list goes on. Image and revenue from college sports seem to trump safety of innocent victims. Accountability must be demanded. Enablers must be eliminated from universities and professional sporting programs. This will not happen until morality and protection of our children takes precedence over college sports programs and the attendant focus on money from the programs.