Lawyers for more than 90 women and girls who were sexually abused by former U.S. gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar have filed claims for more than $1 billion with the FBI, saying investigators could have ended Nassar’s predation and protected other victims had they not mishandled the case.
The suitors include Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney and world championship medalist Maggie Nichols. Each asked for $50 million, according to the law firm that represents them.
Gymnasts Kaylee Lorincz and Hannah Morrow are asking for $42.5 million each, their lawyers said. Representatives say most of the 90 women are asking for $10 million each; in total, the sum would be in the range of US$ 1 billion to US$ 1.2 billion.
THE CNN contacted the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI, and officials declined to comment.
Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, claimants are required to notify the federal agency before a lawsuit is brought in federal court. The agency then has six months to settle or deny the claim before the lawsuit can be brought.
In the notice of Federal Tort Act claims, lawyers say the FBI had credible claims from several victims as of July 2015 — but neglected to interview them or properly investigate the abuse.
The allegations say in part that “the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had credible complaints from multiple sources and corroborating evidence of the doctor’s sexual assaults.”
“FBI officers, who possessed this knowledge and were in a position to end Nassar’s predation, ignored their duties, resulting in Nassar sexually assaulting approximately 100 women and children between July 28, 2015 and September 12, 2016, and conspiring to with the highest-ranking officials of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics to conceal this known sexual abuse from victims,” the claims state.
“The FBI was grossly negligent of its duties in refusing to interview gymnasts who were willing to speak out about the abuse, failing to transfer the complaint to Lansing Michigan, where Nassar continued to abuse girls, ignoring its obligation to report child abuse to the relevant state. and federal agencies and lying to Congress, the media and FBI headquarters about their lack of diligence in investigating Nassar’s complaint,” the victims’ attorneys said in a statement.
“As a result, Nassar continued his predatory behavior, sexually assaulting approximately 90 women and children between July 28, 2015 and September 12, 2016.”
Nichols, an NCAA (National University Athletic Association) national champion, demanded that the FBI be held accountable.
“The FBI knew Larry Nassar was a danger to children when his abuse of me was first reported in September 2015. For 421 days they worked with USA Gymnastics and USOPC to hide this information from the public and allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women. and girls,” Nichols said. “It’s time for the FBI to be held accountable.”
Nassar, a longtime physician on the US gymnastics team and Michigan State University, is serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison on child pornography charges.
He was also sentenced to a state prison sentence of 40 to 175 years in Michigan after pleading guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct.
A Justice Department inspector general report found gross failures by the FBI to properly investigate complaints from gymnasts, who told the agency in 2015 about the abuse.
The inspector general found that agents lied to investigators, but the Justice Department during the Trump administration and again early in the Biden administration refused to press charges.
In April, 13 of Nassar’s sexual assault victims filed separate complaints against the FBI totaling $130 million, saying all agents involved in Nassar’s investigation chose to “turn a blind eye” to Nassar’s sexual abuse perpetrated against children.
These 13 victims accused officials of “negligence” and “wrongful acts” during the investigation, according to administrative misdemeanor allegations seeking $10 million for each victim.
In May, the Justice Department announced that it would not bring charges against two former FBI agents accused of mishandling the Nassar sexual abuse investigation — the third time prosecutors have reached that conclusion.
In a statement at the time, the department said the latest decision to decline the employees’ prosecution came “after multiple reviews and analysis of evidence gathered in the investigation of the former agents and reflects the recommendation of experienced prosecutors.”
Holly Yan, Hanna Rabinowitz and Lauren del Valle of CNN contributed to this story.
Source: CNN Brasil
