Simone Biles Among Women Seeking Over $1 Billion From FBI Over Nassar Abuse
Simone Biles and dozens of other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop the sports doctor when after they provided the agency with allegations.
According to the Associated Press, on Wednesday (June 8), lawyers for Olympic gold medalists and others announced the claims.FBI agents knew in 2015 that Nassar was accused of assaulting gymnasts, but they did not act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year.
“It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19, said, according to the AP.
USA Gymnastics had told the FBI that three gymnasts had been assaulted by Nassar, then a doctor at Michigan State University. The agency did not open a formal investigation or even alert authorities in Michigan, an internal investigation from the FBI’s inspector general found. In 2016, agents in Los Angeles did launch a sexual tourism probe of Nassar but also did not let Michigan authorities know.
Nassar was finally arrested in 2016 by Michigan State University police and the Michigan attorney general’s office handled the assault charges against him. He pleaded guilty in 2017 and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. He also agreed to pay $500 million to girls and women who were his victims, the AP reports.
“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy told the AP.
Biles was among 90 claimants including other Olympic gold medalists accusing the FBI of failing to act to stop Nassar.
Federal law states that a government agency has six months to respond to tort claims like the ones filed Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI’s response.
Approximately 90 claimants include Biles, along with fellow-gold medal gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and others. Separately, 13 claims were filed by others in April.
“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy, according to the AP.
