Some of the biggest names in U.S. gymnastics are among the 90 women to have filed federal tort claims against the FBI, demanding $1billion in damages for their mishandling of the investigation into former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar.
Nassar, a longtime U.S. Olympic team doctor who worked at Michigan State University, faces charges that he abused the women after sexual abuse allegations were first reported to the FBI. Gymnast Maggie Nichols, a Team USA member, alleges that ‘the FBI knew that Larry Nassar was a danger to children when his abuse of me was first reported in September of 2015. For 421 days, they worked with USA Gymnastics and [the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee] to hide this information from the public and allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women and girls. It is time for the FBI to be held accountable.’
Olympic gymnastics medalists Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman are also among the women who filed tort claims against the FBI. In 2018, a Michigan judge sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison after he was convicted on seven counts of felony criminal sexual conduct while treating Olympians and other young gymnasts and athletes. The Justice Department announced last month that it would not bring charges against two former FBI special agents who failed to properly investigate allegations that Nassar sexually abused athletes under his care.
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