The Latest on a critical court hearing for Larry Nassar, charged with assaulting young gymnasts (all times local):
10:30 a.m.
A judge has watched a police interview of Nassar who last summer denied that he inappropriately touched young gymnasts with his hands while treating them for injuries.
Judge Donald Allen Jr. must decide whether there’s enough evidence to send Larry Nassar to trial on sexual assault charges. The last witness Friday was a Michigan State University police officer who interviewed him.
On the video, Nassar was asked about his treatment of a gymnast back in 2000. He said he couldn’t remember her. He said he would only put a finger in a patient’s anus during a rare complex treatment.
Nassar said he doesn’t get sexual pleasure from treating gymnasts. He said if he had an erection as a gymnast claimed “that’s rather embarrassing.”
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9:45 a.m.
Prosecutors have dropped some charges against a sports doctor Larry Nassar accused of sexually assaulting young gymnasts.
The move came Friday at a crucial hearing for Larry Nassar. It drops the number of alleged victims to six instead of seven. Nassar is charged with using his hands to molest them when they saw him for various injuries.
Judge Donald Allen Jr. must decide whether there’s enough evidence to send Nassar to trial. Prosecutors are playing a video of a police interview with him last summer.
Nassar also is facing three more criminal cases, including one in federal court alleging he possessed child pornography. Separately, he’s being sued by dozens of women and girls.
Nassar was a longtime doctor at Michigan State University and Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians.
