Teen testifies ex-MSU Dr. Larry Nassar offered massage for heel injury, penetrated her -...

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MASON, MI -- A teenager who says Dr. Larry Nassar penetrated her vagina with his finger when she was 11 testified Friday as part of an ongoing preliminary hearing for criminal sexual conduct charges.

The teen and former gymnast, now 16, testified that Nassar, a former sports medicine doctor at Michigan State University, touched her vagina at an appointment to treat her heel when she was 11. He offered to do a massage that would help, and her dad left the room to do some work, she said.

MLive does not typically name alleged victims of sexual assaults. Ingham County Judge David Allen also has issued an order that certain witnesses not be identified.

"I thought the massage would be on my heel and my calf," she said during Nassar's preliminary examination in Ingham County District Court .

But instead he touched her labia majora, clitoris and the inside of her vagina, she said. At the same time, he was performing a massage by applying pressure to the thigh of the leg of the problematic heel, she said.

She described him as being "quite sweaty" and "into it," but said during testimony he did not have an erection during the interaction.

Nassar faces 15 first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Ingham County. He also faces seven first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Eaton County and federal charges related to child pornography. The preliminary examination will determine if there is enough evidence to bind the case over to trial. That could happen today, but there likely will be more testimony at a later date.

'I felt yucky,' teen testifies in Dr. Larry Nassar sexual assault case

Nassar's defense attorney, Shannon Smith, asked the alleged victim questions about Nassar's action as a medical procedure. She asked if the alleged victim knew about myofascial release, a manual manipulation of connective tissue sometimes used inter-vaginally. The alleged victim did not.

Smith also keyed in on the timeline of when the alleged victim reported her experiences.

The alleged victim said realized she'd been victimized after reading a report in the Indianapolis Star where former gymnast and Kalamazoo native Rachael Denhollander recounted Nassar penetrating her vagina without gloves. The alleged victim noticed that was similar to her experience.

"Everything in my mind clicked, and everything crystalized, of him abusing girls," she said in court Friday.

The Friday hearing, a continuation of a preliminary examination that began May 12, including the testimony of other teenagers.

Another alleged victim, 18, testified she sought treatment for back pain. She said at one appointment Nassar inserted two fingers into her vagina. While his fingers were there, he asked her questions.

"He made certain comments. Does this feel better? Does this take your pain away?" she said in court

The prosecution asked whether she responded.

"I said that it felt better," she said, tearing up.

One other thing that made her uncomfortable, she said, was his use of "kinesio tape" on her muscles.

"He said that he used this on all of the olympians. So he placed the tape in between my butt cheeks and placed that from that spot up until my mid-back," she said, adding that he touched but did not penetrate her rectum.

She also went to a physical therapist for myofascial release. However, at physical therapy the treatment did not include inserting fingers inside of her vagina, she said in court.

The witness, who is in her senior year of high school now, testified that she is reliving her experiences with Nassar when she should be having one of the most fun years of her life.

"This has taken over and has been on my mind all the time. It's like I can't get away," she said.

Another alleged victim, a 17-year-old, former gymnast, said she sought treatment for a back problem when she was 11. Nassar put his fingers into her vagina, she said, something she said she realized was not part of a medical procedure when she looked up medical procedures following the report on Denhollander's experience.

"For one he didn't ask for consent for it, didn't ask for consent from my mother," she said.

A final hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 23, after which Allen will decide whether the case is bound over to circuit court.

Note:This story was updated with additional information as the hearing progressed.

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