By June 2022, almost 90 women and kids, all abuse victims of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, had filed claims with the FBI for more than $1 billion, accusing the investigators of mishandling the investigation. 58-year-old Larry Nassar is a former osteopathic physician who was the team doctor for the United States national gymnastics team from 1996 until 2014. Gymnasts treated by Nassar had reported to NBC that he had been molesting young women since the 1990s.
The official FBI inquiry into Larry Nassar’s behavior started in 2016. However, he was only apprehended by Michigan State University police in the autumn of 2016. Larry Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on December 7, 2017, for a variety of child abuse and evidence tampering offenses.
There’s no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Dr. Larry Nassar was accused of molesting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year. pic.twitter.com/YmZxfe106o
— Sylvia Van Peebles (@melsbabysis) June 8, 2022
According to the New York Times, former Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and other women filed a lawsuit against the FBI under the Federal Tort Claims Act in 2022. According to the former victims, the FBI’s incompetence to manage the investigation enabled Larry Nassar to allegedly continue assaulting the young ladies who came to him for aid.
How did the FBI approach the Larry Nassar case incorrectly?
According to Fox News, the FBI initially received complaints in 2015 alleging that Larry Nasser was preying on gymnasts under his care. According to a Justice Department Inspector General report, the FBI did not initiate an investigation when these concerns were originally received. Five of the former gymnasts also brought up the FBI’s inability to act against Larry Nasser in a legal lawsuit.
According to the statement:
“FBI authorities who had this information and might have stopped Nassar’s predation were profoundly negligent in their jobs, resulting in Nassar sexually abusing nearly 100 young women and children between July 28, 2015, and September 12, 2016.”
It continued:
“Larry Nasser collaborated with the highest-ranking officials of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committees and USA Gymnastics, Inc. to hide this knowing sexual assault from potential victims.”
McKayla Maroney, one of the gymnasts, echoed this attitude in another statement.
She stated:
“Every institution that was meant to safeguard us – the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI, and now the Department of Justice – deceived my fellow survivors and me.”
After the DOJ Inspector General’s report detailed how the FBI had failed to act, Maroney, Biles, Raisman, and Maggie Nichols testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September on how they had been handled by investigators.
According to Maroney:
“After giving the FBI my whole account of abuse in the summer of 2015, the FBI not only did not record my assault, but when they finally documented my complaint 17 months later, they made completely fraudulent statements about what I stated.”
Concern about DC tomorrow ties directly to lack of consequences for January 6th. Just as with Larry Nasser, and so many other things, the authorities continue to drop the ball and enable the evildoers among us. #Sad
— Don Lewis (@DonLew87) September 17, 2021
FBI Director Chris Wray apologized for the bureau’s handling of the matter during a Senate hearing. Despite the fact that he was not in the office at the time of the charges, he was charged. He said:
“I’m particularly sad that folks at the FBI had their own opportunity to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.” And it is unforgivable.”
Many gymnasts, according to CBS, won a separate settlement against Michigan State University and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The organizations were charged with shielding Larry Nasser from prosecution. The university agreed to compensate more than 300 women $500 million. The Olympic and Paralympic committees agreed on a $380 million compensation.