Larry Nassar case | Gymnasts threaten to sue FBI for $1 billion

(Detroit) Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and dozens of other gymnasts who allege she was sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are suing the FBI for more than $1 billion, lawyers said Wednesday.

Biles and his colleagues blame the government agency for allowing the sports doctor to continue his criminal activities despite the fact that it had already received complaints against him.

There is no doubt that FBI agents knew in 2015 that Nassar, currently imprisoned, was accused of assaulting gymnasts, but they did not intervene, allowing him to continue his criminal activities with young women for more than 10 years. a year. He pleaded guilty in 2017 and is currently serving decades in prison.

“It’s time for the FBI to be held accountable,” said Maggie Nichols, a champion gymnast at the University of Oklahoma between 2017 and 2019.

Under the federal Criminal Code, the US government agency has six months to respond to complaints filed on Wednesday. Prosecutions could then be initiated, depending on the FBI’s response.

Among the 90 plaintiffs are Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to California law firm Manly, Stewart & Finaldi.

“If the FBI had just done their job, Nassar would have been arrested before he could assault hundreds of young women, including me,” said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.

An email seeking comment was sent to the FBI.

USA Gymnastics, which is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, told FBI agents in 2015 that three gymnasts were assaulted by Nassar, a team doctor. The FBI, however, has not launched a formal investigation or notified local or federal authorities in the state of Michigan, according to the US Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General, an internal watchdog.

FBI agents in Los Angeles began a sex tourism investigation against Nassar in 2016 and encountered numerous victims, but did not notify Michigan authorities, the Office of Inspector General said.

Nassar was eventually arrested in the fall of 2016, as part of an investigation by the Michigan State University Police Department. He was a doctor at this university.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office eventually filed assault charges against Nassar, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan filed child pornography charges against him.

In a speech to the US Congress last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted to major mistakes.

“I am especially sorry that people at the FBI, who had the opportunity to stop this monster in 2015, failed. And it’s inexcusable,” Wray told the victims during a hearing before the US Senate.

The Justice Department said in May that it would not file criminal charges against ex-officers who provided incomplete or inadequate answers during the Office of Inspector General’s investigation.

Michigan State University, which has also been accused of turning a blind eye to Nassar’s actions, has agreed to pay 500 million to more than 300 young women who have been assaulted over the years by the ex-sports doctor . USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee have settled this dispute out of court for 380 million.