NASSAR VICTIMS SUE FBI FOR INQUIRY FAILURES
More than 90 women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics who was convicted on state sexual abuse charges, filed lawsuits on Wednesday against the FBI for its failure to investigate him when it received credible information about his crimes.
The lawsuits come two weeks after the Justice Department decided not to prosecute two former FBI agents accused of bungling the bureau’s 2015 investigation into Nassar, allowing him to assault more than 70 girls and women for over a year before Michigan authorities arrested him.
The agents were accused by the Justice Department’s own watchdog of making false statements about the matter. In the fall, Christopher Wray, the FBI director, testified to Congress that “there were people at the FBI who had their chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.”
The Justice Department said it would not prosecute the agents involved in what Wray has called “gross misconduct” because there was not enough evidence to bring a federal criminal case.
The plaintiffs include Olympic gymnastics gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney and national gymnastics medalist Maggie Nichols, as well as former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy and former Michigan State University gymnast Kaylee Lorincz, who now works as an advocate for sexual assault victims.
“My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us — the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice,” Maroney said in a statement. “It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process,” she added.
The plaintiffs are seeking different amounts in damages, but their total claims will exceed $1 billion, their lawyer, John C. Manly, said in a statement.
Nassar, who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison, was accused of molesting hundreds of girls and women, including many members of the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams.
The FBI field office in Indianapolis received evidence of his crimes in 2015. Agents proceeded to interview gymnasts, including Maroney, who provided detailed testimony. Ultimately, they took no action to ramp up the investigation or stop Nassar, who continued to treat dozens of patients.
The FBI also failed to notify state or local law enforcement about the child abuse accusations against Nassar, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general.