Most recent charges against Larry Nassar prove Aly Raisman was right

Following Larry Nassar's seven-day sentencing hearing in Ingham County, Michigan that resulted in him being given his second prison sentence, a state prison sentence for between 40 and 175 years on seven sexual assault charges, two-time Olympic gymnast and six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman stated that she believed 175 years was "not enough" for the 54-year-old disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State physician.

At that time, Nassar, who has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 300 people under the guise of medical treatment over the course of more than two decades, had already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on three child pornography charges. He is currently serving this sentence at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona.

In other words, whether Nassar was given a state prison sentence of 10,000 decades or two minutes following his January sentencing hearing, the odds of him actually getting to serve that sentence are slim.

As a result, many people questioned why Raisman, who was one of 156 people who accused Nassar of sexual assault to deliver a victim impact statement during his January sentencing hearing, would make this claim.

Here is what Raisman said, according to Us Weekly.

“You know what, someone brought this up the other day and they said he’s going to jail for almost like a year for each survivor, so when you put it in that perspective, it’s really not enough. It would be like for the abuse he did there’s been so many girls that have come forward. It’s like he got one year for each person, like that’s not enough, you know what I mean?

“He’s gonna die in jail but any number is never enough. But I’m glad because so many people are watching and I hope that it does set an example to all the other abusers out there that their time is up and that abuse is never okay. We have to fix the problem and the organizations.”

Nassar has since been sentenced to between an additional 40 and 125 years in state prison on three more sexual assault charges. He was given this third prison sentence in February following a three-day sentencing hearing in Eaton County, Michigan.

But after really considering what Raisman is saying, she makes perfect sense, and she is absolutely correct. In total, Nassar has been sentenced to between 140 and 360 years in prison. While that means he is set to be behind bars for the rest of his life, 360 years in prison comes out to just over one year per person he sexually assaulted. So far, 332 people have accused him of sexual assault.

That is the message that is being sent, and Raisman is right; it is not a good one.

After Nassar was charged with six more counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child stemming from the Károlyi Ranch investigation conducted by the Walker County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers, Raisman's claim was reiterated if not proven when Walker County district attorney David Weeks commented about why there was a need to charge Nassar with these six counts even though he is already set to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Here is what Weeks had to say about the matter, according to USA Today.

“It’s the right thing to do. Because these victims deserve to be heard. Because they deserve justice.”

What Weeks said backs up what Raisman's claim from several months ago. At this point, it's not really about the numbers for the sake of the numbers.

It's about justice being served for the sake of the survivors.

Nassar is already set to spend the rest of this life behind bars. Why not send an even bigger message? Why not sentence him to a couple thousand years in prison to show that justice is truly being served for he did to 332 (and possibly counting) people?

Why not show that a number is more than a number? Why not show that it truly represents each and every person who has been harmed by this predator?

While there are legal aspects to this argument as far as sentencing goes, it really shouldn't matter since Nassar is, in fact, sentencing to serve the rest of his life in prison. Raisman's argument is a common sense-based argument that should have never been questioned by anyone to begin with, and the six most recent charges against Nassar prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt.