Years later, when she was 12, Stephens told her parents about the abuse and her mother and father confronted their friend Nassar. Stephens said Nassar denied the abuse and “my parents chose to believe Larry Nassar over me.” She said her parents made her speak with Nassar about the allegations, and the predator allegedly told her, “No one should ever do that, and if they do, you should tell someone.”
After that, Stephens said in court that her relationship with her parents deteriorated, especially her connection to her father.
“His belief that I lied seeped into the foundation of our relationship,” she said. “Every time we got into a fight, he would tell me, ‘You need to apologize to Larry’ … I started to question whether the abuse ever happened. ”
As time passed, the Nassars began pressuring Stephens into babysitting their children, she said. When she was at their home, the family acted as if she never accused Nassar at all. Disconnected from her family, Stephens said she began doing all she could to pay for her own counseling, as she knew she could not ask her parents for help.
She ended up confronting her father about Nassar again when she was 18, before leaving for college. Her father, who later killed himself, finally believed her.
“My father and I did our best to patch up our tattered relationship before he committed suicide in 2016,” Stephens told the court through tears. “Admittedly, my father was experiencing debilitating health issues, but had he not had to bear the shame and self-loathing that stemmed from his defense of Larry Nassar, I believe he would have had a fighting chance for life.”
