USA Gymnastics: How the sport has become beset by allegations of sex abuse

Nassar made his first court appearance this month. He faced three sexual assault charges against a girl under 13. He pleaded not guilty.

A preliminary hearing was due to take place in December but the judge granted a defence request to delay that until 17 February.

When the charges were brought in November, Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette said the case against Dr Nassar was the “tip of the iceberg”., external

Meanwhile, USA Gymnastics has announced it will conduct an independent review into its handling of sexual abuse cases.

In response to the Indy Star’s latest report it issued the following statement: “Nothing is more important to USA Gymnastics, the board of directors and chief executive Steve Penny than protecting athletes, which requires sustained vigilance by everyone – coaches, athletes, parents, administrators and officials.

“We are saddened when any athlete has been harmed in the course of his or her gymnastics career.”

Indy Star Journalist Mark Alesia told Sportshour that he believes more allegations of sexual abuse will surface.

He said: “There’s a lot more to come out, we suspect, on how USA Gymnastics handles sexual abuse complaints.

“As part of our investigation we have learned that it was keeping files of sexual abuse complaints but not reporting them to authorities. If we get to those, we think there will be a lot more to report.”