The head of Michigan State University (MSU) has resigned, hours after sports doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced for sexually abusing young athletes.
Lou Anna Simon had been facing pressure to step down. Nassar worked at MSU between 1997 and 2016.
Also a former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, he was sentenced to 40 to 175 years’ imprisonment after testimony from almost 160 women.
Ms Simon denied reports that MSU knew of the abuse claims but failed to act.
She said in a statement: “To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment.”
The accounts of Nassar’s victims are “tragic, heartbreaking, and personally gut-wrenching,” she added.
On Wednesday Michigan’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling on Ms Simon to quit.
About 140 young women have filed a lawsuit against Nassar, USA Gymnastics and MSU, claiming the two institutions heard the paedophilia allegations against him years ago.
The sports body and the school deny there was a cover-up.
Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault against girls and young women, including Olympians.
Before his sentencing on Wednesday, the 54-year-old had already been sentenced to 60 years for possession of child pornography.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar during the sentencing: “As much as it was my honour and privilege to hear the sister survivors, it was my honour and privilege to sentence you.
“Because, sir, you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again.”
As the judge finished her sentence, witnesses in the packed courtroom stood and applauded her verdict. -BBC
