Washington — The Justice Department and more than 100 victims of former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar reached a civil settlement over allegations that FBI agents failed to properly investigate the gymnasts' claims of abuse against the now-convicted doctor.
Superstar Olympian Simone Biles and fellow U.S. gold medalists Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney are among the victims who claimed the FBI did not pursue allegations that Nassar was abusing his patients.
The U.S. will pay $138.7 million to settle 139 claims against the FBI, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
"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," Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement announcing the settlement Tuesday.
The victims sued the FBI in 2022 alleging negligence and wrongdoing. The final settlement in this case resolves the victims' claims against the federal government.
In 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before Congress, condemned the agents' past handling of the Nassar allegations, adding, "On no planet is what happened in this case acceptable." In 2022, he told Congress the FBI would not make the same mistakes in the future. Attorney General Merrick Garland characterized the FBI's failures as "horrible."
Neither Wray nor Garland were leading their respective organizations at the time of the FBI misconduct.
In total, settlements concerning the disgraced former national women's gymnastics team doctor have now totaled nearly $1 billion. Michigan State University, where Nassar was a doctor, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted by him.
The university was also accused of missing chances to stop Nassar. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in 2021 agreed to a $380 million settlement Nassar's fate is now sealed behind bars, where he is currently serving multiple prison sentences for his despicable acts of sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. His guilty pleas to a series of charges in 2017 and 2018 have brought some semblance of justice to his victims.
