RICHMOND, Va. -- Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced Wednesday to serve up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting as many as 160 young gymnasts. USA Gymnastics has come under fire for how it handled the sexual assault cases.
As the national story unfolds, some gyms in Central Virginia have said they were working to make sure something like this never happened again.
Gymnastics gym owners and coaches in Richmond who spoke with CBS 6 said the sexual assault cases prompted them to have really open, honest conversations in their gyms, even with some of the younger athletes.
"I think it is very important that we as coaches should develop a relationship, we are role models, before we are coaches, the athletes look up to us, we are their protectors, so they need to feel comfortable coming to us if they are afraid,” Lisa Holloway, owner of Richmond Twisters - a Richmond gym associated with USA Gymnastics, said.
Holloway went on to say it will take a long time for women, and gymnastics as a whole to recover from this, but she hoped some of the current momentum propels lawmakers to create policies to help better protect young athletes.
