Read Rachael Denhollander’s Victim Statement Against Larry Nassar

Shortly before Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor, Larry Nassar, up to 175 years in prison on Jan. 24, Rachael Denhollander, the first of 156 women to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual misconduct, delivered a powerful 36-minute victim impact statement that was met with a standing ovation in the courtroom.

"He penetrated me, he groped me, he fondled me. And then he whispered questions about how it felt," Denhollander recounted of being absued by Nassar as a teen club gymnast, under the guise of medical treatment. "As we were being sexually violated even as very young children, as young as 6 years old, Larry was sexually aroused by our humiliation and our pain. He asked us how it felt because he wanted to know. What was done to myself and these other women and little girls and the fact that our sexual violation was enjoyed by Larry matters."

Denhollander, now 33, spoke of her own Christian faith in her statement:

You spoke of praying for forgiveness. But Larry, if you have read the Bible you carry, you know forgiveness does not come from doing good things, as if good deeds can erase what you have done. It comes from repentance which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you have done in all of its utter depravity and horror without mitigation, without excuse, without acting as if good deeds can erase what you have seen this courtroom today.

... The Bible you speak carries a final judgment where all of God's wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.

I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me – though I extend that to you as well.

Denhollander also referenced a C.S. Lewis quote saying, "My argument against God was that the universe seems so cruel and unjust. But how did I get this idea of just, unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he first has some idea of straight. What was I comparing the universe to when I called it unjust?"

Read her full statement here.