Simone Biles and other Olympians sue FBI for $1B over Nassar case
| Detroit
Olympic gold medalist 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 the agency first received allegations against him, lawyers said on Wednesday.
There鈥檚 no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that the now-imprisoned Mr. Nassar was accused of assaulting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year. He pleaded guilty in 2017 and is serving decades in prison.
鈥淚t is time for the FBI to be held accountable,鈥� said Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19.
Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claims filed Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI鈥檚 response.
The approximately 90 claimants include Ms. Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law firm.
鈥淚f 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,鈥� said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.
An email seeking comment was sent to the FBI.
Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local FBI agents in 2015 that three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Mr. Nassar, a team doctor. But the FBI did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the Justice Department鈥檚 inspector general, an internal watchdog.
Los Angeles FBI agents in 2016 began a sexual tourism investigation against Mr. Nassar and interviewed several victims but also didn鈥檛 alert Michigan authorities, the inspector general said.
Mr. Nassar wasn鈥檛 arrested until fall 2016 during an investigation by Michigan State University police. He was a doctor at Michigan State.
The Michigan attorney general鈥檚 office ultimately handled the assault charges against Mr. Nassar, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case.
In remarks to Congress last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray acknowledged major mistakes.
鈥淚鈥檓 especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. And that鈥檚 inexcusable,鈥� Wray told victims at a Senate hearing.
At that same hearing, Ms. Biles, widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time, said an 鈥渆ntire system鈥� enabled the abuse. Ms. Maroney recalled 鈥渄ead silence鈥� when she talked to FBI agents about Mr. Nassar.
The Justice Department in May said that it would not pursue criminal charges against former agents who were accused of giving inaccurate or incomplete responses during the inspector general鈥檚 investigation.
Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Mr. Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted by Mr. Nassar. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽
