Justice Department agrees to pay out $100M to victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s sex abuse, citing failures by the FBI
- The Justice Department agreed to pay more than $100 million to Larry Nassar’s victims
- FBI agents failed to take reports of Nassar’s abuse seriously
- This brings the sum of the total payouts to over $1 billion
The Justice Department has agreed to pay $100 million to the 100 victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who sexually assaulted them.
FBI agents did not take seriously reports of Nassar’s possible abuse of the star athletes, the Justice Department has found.
The total price of payouts over Nassar’s actions has now reached more than $1 billion. Wall Street Journal reported.
Michigan State University agreed to settle claims with hundreds of victims for $500 million in 2018 after complaints about Nassar’s abuse were dismissed and buried several times.
Star gymnasts like Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman all spoke out against their former doctor.
The Justice Department has agreed to pay $100 million to the 100 victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who sexually abused them.
The elite gymnasts were first identified in the summer of 2015 as possibly abused by 60-year-old Nassar.
They are among dozens of other patients who were abused by the gymnastics team’s former doctor, even after the FBI was made aware of the gymnasts’ concerns.
Nassar was sentenced in January 2018 to a minimum of 40 years and a maximum of 175 years in prison for sexually abusing minors.
After his release, Nassar would have to register as a sex offender in Michigan. However, his federal and state sentences will be consecutive, meaning he will essentially die in prison.
Nassar apologized for his years of abuse, saying the powerful effects his victims’ statements had on him “paled in comparison” to the suffering he inflicted on them.
During victim impact statements in 2018, several athletes testified that during Nassar’s decades of sexual abuse, they told adults what was happening, including coaches and athletic trainers, but it was not reported.
More than 150 victims spoke or made statements in court during an extraordinary seven-day hearing more than four years ago.
In June 2022, Nassar’s final appeal was dismissed by the Michigan Supreme Court, which was filed on the grounds that he had been “unfairly treated.”
Nassar admitted to sexually assaulting the athletes while he worked at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Pictured: Nassar with McKayla Maroney
In June 2022, Nassar’s final appeal was dismissed by the Michigan Supreme Court, which was filed on the grounds that he had been “unfairly treated.”
Nassar is serving up to 175 years in Florida prison for abusing some of the country’s top athletes
The sexual abuser was stabbed ten times on July 9, 2023 at the US prison in Coleman, Florida.
However, the attack is considered an “unconscious” event because, according to an insider, there are no cameras in the prison cell. Only common areas and hallways are monitored via video.
USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Dantzscher filed a lawsuit and additional claims were filed on behalf of a growing number of Nassar’s victims.