Larry Nassar victims strike $138m deal with justice department over FBI’s bungling of assault case
Disgraced sports doctor is now serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts such as Simone Biles
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The US Justice Department has agreed a settlement of over $138m with over 100 victims of Larry Nassar, following the FBI’s mishandling of multiple allegations of sexual assault against the disgraced sports doctor.
In combination with other settlements, roughly $1bn now has been set aside by various organisations to compensate hundreds of women who said Nassar – described by authorities as a “monster” – assaulted them under the guise of treatment for sports injuries.
Nassar worked at Michigan State University and also served as a team doctor at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He’s now serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts such as Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and four-time gymnastics champion Simone Biles – who revealed her own shocking abuse at the hands of Nassar in January 2018.
The settlement agreements announced on Tuesday resolve 139 claims for a total of $138.7m to be distributed to claimants, according to the department.
The FBI was criticised after bungling allegations of allegations of sexual assault against Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest. Agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of the allegations against him but apparently took no action, an internal investigation by the DOJ found in July 2021.
“For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C Mizer on 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.”
At a 2021 Senate hearing FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke to survivors including Ms Maroney and Ms Biles, telling them: “I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again... 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.”
After a search, investigators said in 2016 that they had found images of child sex abuse and followed up with federal charges against Nassar. Separately, the Michigan attorney general’s office handled the assault charges that ultimately shocked the sports world and led to an extraordinary dayslong sentencing hearing with gripping testimony about his crimes.
Rachael Denhollander of Louisville, Kentucky, who is not part of the latest settlement but was the first person to publicly step forward and detail abuse at the hands of Nassar, said she was “deeply grateful” for the announcement, but said the accountability with the justice department had been “a long time in coming.”
“The unfortunate reality is that what we are seeing today is something that most survivors never see,” Ms Denhollander told The Associated Press. “Most survivors never see accountability. Most survivors never see justice. Most survivors never get restitution.”
Nassar was involved with America’s world-beating gymnastics programme from the 1980s until July 2015, when the sport’s national governing body sacked him. In January 2018 Ms Biles – the most decorated US gymnast in history – shared her own experiences with Nassar, by which point more than 130 other women had filed lawsuits against him.
Ms Biles, who won team, all-around, vault and floor exercise gold medals at Rio 2016, said she was “one of the many survivors”.
Nassar was later sentenced to between 40 and 175 years in prison in 2017, for abusing athletes in his care after testimony from nearly 160 of his victims.
Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, previously agreed to pay $500m to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee also made a $380m settlement.