Survivors of the disgraced former national gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar will receive a settlement of $138.7 million (£110 million) from the US Justice Department.
In a lawsuit filed in 2022, several of Larry Nassar’s victims accused the FBI of mishandling credible reports of sexual assaults and failing to treat them seriously.
Among the 139 claimants were prominent US Olympic gymnasts like Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney.
Nassar, who is serving a prison sentence of up to 175 years for sexual assault, was the subject of this lawsuit.
In 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, responsible for overseeing the FBI, concluded that the agency had ignored allegations against Nassar and made numerous errors.
The FBI initiated an investigation into Nassar in 2015, but the inspector general’s report highlighted deficiencies in the inquiry.
These included a failure to formally document meetings with USA Gymnastics officials after the organization completed its own five-week internal investigation into Nassar’s conduct.
Additionally, the report noted a failure to notify state and local authorities about the ongoing risk Nassar posed to athletes.
Despite allegations being brought to the FBI’s attention, Nassar continued to treat patients for over a year.
Most of the claimants in the lawsuit said they were assaulted after Nassar’s abuse was first reported in 2015. The majority were athletes with the USA Gymnastics programme or with Michigan State University, where Nassar maintained a clinic.
“For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C Mizer in a statement announcing the settlement – among the largest in DOJ history – on Tuesday.
“These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset,” Mr Mizer said. “While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing.”
In a 2022 statement, Ms Maroney said that Nassar’s victims were “betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us – the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and the Department of Justice.”
“It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process,” she added.
In aggregate, the legal settlements arising from Nassar’s misconduct and its aftermath have exceeded $1 billion.
These payouts encompassed a $500 million agreement reached in 2018 between Michigan State University and numerous survivors, as well as a $380 million settlement involving athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
In 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray issued an apology to the affected athletes, and the bureau terminated one of its agents who was involved in the investigation.
Altogether, over 330 women came forward to accuse Nassar of sexual abuse. He is currently serving a maximum sentence of 175 years for various convictions related to sexual assault and child pornography.
Nassar faced a life-threatening attack by another inmate at a Florida prison last year, narrowly surviving with the aid of correctional officers’ medical intervention.