The Justice Department agreed on Tuesday to pay $138.7 million to settle 139 claims of those who accused the FBI of mishandling sexual assault allegations against disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nasar in 2015 and 2016.
Nassar worked at Michigan State University and was the team doctor at USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. Several current and former athletes, including Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, all testified at a 2021 Senate hearing that the FBI failed to act on their complaints against him.
Nassar is now serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes under the guise of treatment for injuries.
U.S. gymnasts McKayla Maroney (C), Simone Biles and Aly Raisman leave after testifying during a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General’s report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of U.S. gymnasts, on Capitol Hill, September 15, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images)
“For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said in a statement. “These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset. While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing.”
The settlement figure exceeds that of what the Justice Department paid in a settlement in cases that arose out of the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting. The DOJ settled those claims in 2022 for $127.5 million.
“This colossal failure by the FBI is disgraceful,” Nicole Parker, FBI special agent and Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital. “No sum of money can ever erase what these innocent victims had to endure by their doctor who had free reign preying on the most innocent. And when the victims courageously spoke up, their traumas fell on deaf ears.
“As a former FBI agent who worked tirelessly to protect victims, this is infuriating and heartbreaking. And I would like to apologize on behalf of all the hardworking agents who would never have allowed this to happen on their watch.”
Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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In the Nassar case, the Justice Department had acknowledged it failed to step in. An internal investigation found that FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles knew of the allegations against him but apparently took no action.
FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke to survivors at the 2021 Senate hearing.
“I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again,” Wray said at the time. “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.”
In 2016, investigators said they had found images of child sex abuse and followed up with federal charges against Nassar after a search. The Michigan attorney general’s office handled the assault charges that led to the sentencing hearing and testimony.
Michigan State University agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.
Former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar appears in court for his final sentencing phase in Eaton County Circuit Court on February 5, 2018 in Charlotte, Michigan. (RENA LAVERTY/AFP via Getty Images)
Overall, $1 billion has been set aside by various organizations to compensate Nassar’s victims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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