The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay about $100 million to settle claims with about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The deal has not yet been finalized and no money has been paid, the source said on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak before a formal announcement.
An internal investigation has found that FBI agents mishandled women’s allegations of abuse 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 sports physician at Michigan State University and a physician at USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts, under the guise of treatment.
Attorneys filed claims against the government, focusing on a fifteen-month period during which FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles were aware of the allegations against Nassar but apparently took no action, beginning in 2015. General of the Ministry of Justice confirmed fundamental errors.
Nassar’s attacks continued until his arrest in the fall of 2016, authorities said.
Survivors of the attack 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,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told survivors during a 2021 Senate hearing. “And I’m especially sorry that there were people in the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster in 2015, but failed.”
The Michigan attorney general’s office ultimately handled charges against Nassar, while federal prosecutors in western Michigan filed a child abuse case against him.
Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing opportunities for years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were attacked. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have reached a $380 million settlement.