The father of three sisters who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar lunged at the former USA Gymnastics team doctor in a Michigan courtroom during a sentencing hearing Friday. Randall Margraves had to be restrained by bailiffs.
Here’s how CNN recounted the lead-up to the incident:
“I would ask you, as part of the sentencing to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon,” he asked. “Would you give me one minute?”
The judge declined, saying “that’s not how our legal system works.”
“Well I’m going to have to,” Margraves responded, and he launched into a sprint at Nassar.
Video: Father of sex abuse victims tries to attack disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar in courtroom https://t.co/99ya9YyReE pic.twitter.com/1Lvowij17Q
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) February 2, 2018
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Later, Margraves shouted, “I want that son of a bitch,” before being led away in handcuffs. “Give me one minute with that bastard.”
Angela Povilaitis, the lead prosecutor in the case, pleaded for calm.
Judge Janice Cunningham apologized to the courtroom for the incident.
“What happened in the courtroom was scary,” she said, per Cummins. “What Mr. Nassar did is horrible, but please let the criminal justice system do what it is supposed to do.”
Randall Margraves, left, father of three victims of Larry Nassar, lunges at Nassar, bottom right, on Friday in Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Mich. The incident came during the third and final sentencing hearing for Nassar on sexual abuse charges. The charges in this case focus on his work with Twistars, an elite Michigan gymnastics club. Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via Associated Press
About three hours after the incident, Margraves was led back into the courtroom in handcuffs (Nassar was not present). Cunningham told him that he could have been penalized for contempt of court but said she decided against it after consulting with the Eaton County prosecutor, the sheriff’s office, Nassar’s attorney and Margraves’s attorney, Mick Grewal, who told the judge that Margraves didn’t know what his daughters were going to say Friday and was overwhelmed with emotion.
After his apology, Cunningham released Margraves. However, Grewal told Matt Mencarini of the Lansing State Journal that the country sheriff’s office is still conducting a criminal investigation that could be referred to prosecutors, though he hopes it doesn’t come to that.
Margraves is the father of Lauren and Madison Margraves, who testified Friday before their father’s action. He also is the father of another woman who spoke out against Nassar in neighboring Ingham County last month.
Friday’s sentencing hearing in Eaton County, Mich., was the third for Nassar and is scheduled to continue into next week as victims speak out. Last week, an Ingham County Circuit Court judge sentenced him to 40 to 175 years in prison on seven sexual assault charges after a days-long parade of victims testified against him. In December, a federal judge sentenced Nassar to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges.
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