Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander used her statement Wednesday against sex abuser Larry Nassar as a testimony and message of grace and forgiveness.
She was the final victim to make a statement in the sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court in Michigan. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, to up to 175 years in a Michigan prison for his abuse of young female gymnasts.
“In our early hearings, you brought your Bible into the courtroom and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know the definition of sacrificial love portrayed is of God himself loving so sacrificially that he gave up everything to pay a penalty for the sin he did not commit. By his grace, I, too, choose to love this way,” Denhollander said, according to a full transcript of her...