- Investigation found FBI mishandled abuse allegations
- Agents had knowledge of allegations a year before arrest
The US Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100m to settle claims with about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by disgraced doctor Larry Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations has told The Associated Press. The deal has not been finalized and no money has been paid, the source said.
An internal investigation found that FBI agents mishandled abuse allegations by women more than a year before Nassar was arrested in 2016.
The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He is serving an effective life sentence for assaulting athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts, under the guise of treatment.
Lawyers filed claims against the government, focusing on a 15-month period when FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of allegations against Nassar but apparently took no action, beginning in 2015. The Justice Department inspector general confirmed fundamental errors.
Nassar’s assaults continued until his arrest in the fall of 2016, authorities said.
The assault survivors include decorated Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
“I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again,” the FBI director, Christopher, Wray told survivors at a Senate hearing in 2021. “And I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.”
The Michigan attorney general’s office ultimately handled the assault charges against Nassar, while federal prosecutors in western Michigan filed a child sexual abuse images case against him.
Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500m to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed to a $380m settlement.
