Judge responds to 20,000 names removed from the Michigan sex offender registry

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Prosecutors in mid-Michigan mistakenly said Larry Nassar was one of 20,000 names removed from the Michigan sex offender registry, but the state police who run the registry say Nassar was never on it in the first place.

Judge Aquilina reacts to names being removed

Big picture view:

On Tuesday, the judge who put the disgraced girls’ gymnastics doctor away for life is calling out what she says went wrong and spoke exclusively to FOX 2’s Dave Kinchen.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina presided over the case that had America talking at the time.

She famously said to Nassar, "I’ve just signed your death warrant" in a sweeping moment that delivered justice for more than 150 of his victims. 

However, Nassar was never on the sex offender registry and is serving his time in prison out of state. 

What they're saying:

Judge Aquilina actually called for Nassar’s name to be put on the registry but says either way, the removal of those names constitutes a major failure of the criminal justice system.

"There’s 20,000 or more people are taken off the list, which means we can’t control where they are living. There’s no notice that there might be a problem and no one’s keeping track of are they treated or are they taking their meds? Where are they living? And, is this zone a safety zone or not? And so we have a much larger problem that will affect victims and our whole community everywhere, so the legislature needs to fix this problem," said Aquilina. "It’s not really a Nassar problem. He is never getting out. It’s really a problem for all other victims and for the rest of the community who doesn’t want to become a victim."

Dig deeper:

That’s not the only case where Judge Aquilina is calling for reform. She says the reopened rape investigation involving members of a fraternity at Cornell University highlights the need for a law requiring anyone with knowledge of a crime to report it. 

More than 50 members of that frat reportedly learned of the sexual assault in a group chat as it was happening, but no one called police or tried to intervene, according to multiple reports.

"I think first of all universities, especially when they have sororities and fraternities, should make a part of their policy you report or you're expelled. There’s nothing going on now in Michigan and globally where we need to look at defining consent and making bystanders responsible," said Aquilina.

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