FBI: Ex-Gymnastic Team Doctor Busted With 37k Child Porn Images

On Wednesday, 53-year-old former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nasser, of Holt, Michigan, appeared for his formal arraignment, pretrial conference, and detention hearing. Nassar was fired from his position at the university in September.

“The university and its police department investigated Nassar in 2014 after a then recent graduate alleged that Nassar sexually assaulted her during a visit to his campus office for a treatment for hip pain. The university's Title IX investigator cleared Nassar and the Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney's Office declined to issue charges,” 9 News reported.

The doctor had previously served as a physician for the USA Gymnastics team during four Olympic events.

Nassar’s indictment was unsealed last week, revealing that he has been charged with two counts of child pornography in federal court for collecting "thousands of images of child pornography" over the course of 14 years. Included in the images are children under the age of 12.

The doctor is also charged in Ingham County with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person younger than 13.

The hard drives filled with disturbing content were labeled with Nassar’s name and phone number, and found in a garbage can on the edge of his property as agents executed a search warrant. The trash bin was due to be picked up prior to the search, but trash collection was reported to have run late that day.

The FBI stated that they recovered videos of the doctor sexually assaulting young girls in a pool. Other images and videos included young girls exposing themselves, or being raped.

While arguing that the doctor should not be granted bond, assistant US attorney Sean Lewis told the court that there are sexual assault allegations against Nassar that go back decades, and that some of the children were as young as six. Nearly 60 women have come forward since this summer stating that they were sexually assaulted by him, some asserting that the abuse took place during medical procedures.

"If true, that's appalling," Federal Magistrate Judge Ray Kent stated. "And I'm not going to set Dr. Nassar loose in our community until this (case) is resolved."

The agency is continuing forensic reviews of Nassar’s other computers and devices, but they appear to have been wiped clean.

"The current (federal) charges do not relate to Nassar’s employment at MSU. Also, according to MSU Police, the investigation into the child pornography charges has not revealed any images of victims in the complaints of criminal sexual conduct that the department also is investigating,” MSU Spokesman Jason Cody said in a statement released on Monday.

If convicted, Nassar faces up to 40 years in prison on federal child pornography charges, and up to life in prison if convicted on molestation charges in Ingham County.

Nassar is now being held without bond, after Judge Kent described him as “the worst” kind of danger to the community. The judge described the evidence against the accused pedophile as “very heavy.”