The Latest: Nassar lawyer doubts some assault victims

Published Feb. 1, 2018 5:19 p.m. ET

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) The Latest on developments in the sexual assault scandal involving Michigan sports doctor Larry Nassar:

5:05 p.m.

A lawyer for Larry Nassar says she has doubts about the large number of women and girls who say they were sexually assaulted by the Michigan sports doctor.

Shannon Smith tells radio station WWJ that she has a ''very hard time'' believing that Nassar could have assaulted more than 250 victims. She says it's ''really unfortunate'' if some girls stepped forward only because of all the attention in the last few weeks.

Nassar released a statement Thursday through another lawyer, saying Smith's remarks are a distraction. He says the courtroom statements by victims have been meaningful and have ''pierced my soul.''

Nassar has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. He'll return to Eaton County court on Friday for the second day of another sentencing.

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1:20 p.m.

A victim of sports doctor Larry Nassar has accepted a public apology from a police department near Lansing, Michigan, nearly 14 years after officers took a complaint from her but didn't seek criminal charges.

Brianne Randall-Gay says the remorse by Meridian Township police eases her pain but doesn't erase it.

Township officials held a news conference Thursday. Randall-Gay participated by video from Washington state.

In 2004, Randall-Gay was 17 years old when she visited Nassar for a back problem. She told police that he molested her with his hands. The case was closed after Nassar told police that he had performed a legitimate procedure.

The township says an outside expert should have been consulted. Nassar has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years after pleading guilty to assaulting others.

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12:30 a.m.

A police department in the Lansing, Michigan, area will publicly apologize about missing an opportunity to pursue criminal charges against Larry Nassar in 2004.

Meridian Township plans to make the apology Thursday to Brianne Randall-Gay, who accused the sports doctor of molesting her during treatment for an abnormal spine.

Randall-Gay was 17 in 2004 when she and her mother visited Nassar to discuss treatment for scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. He sent her to physical therapy but saw her again, this time alone, and she says he used his hands to molest her.

Township police dropped the case after Nassar explained that he was performing a ligament procedure.

Township Manager Frank Walsh says Nassar ''deceived'' police.

Questions about the investigation will be answered during a news conference Thursday.