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From left to right, gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols.
A group of former Olympic gymnasts, including gold medalist Simone Biles, are suing the FBI for $1 billion over the agency’s mistakes in arresting sports doctor Larry Nassar, despite multiple complaints and testimony against him.
Nassar was sentenced to more than 300 years in prison in 2018 for sexually assaulting gymnasts, many of them when they were minors.
An internal report published in July last year found numerous errors, delays, and cover-ups by FBI agents investigating the allegations, allowing Nassar’s abuse to continue for nearly a year after the case against him was opened.
“It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” he said. Maggie Nicholsthe Oklahoma national champion gymnast who has been one of the most active voices on the cause.
Among the 90 plaintiffs, in addition to Biles and Nichols, are Olympic gold medalists Ali Rasman s maquila maroni.
Last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray apologized to the US Congress for the agency’s “repugnant behavior” and “fundamental errors” in the case.
However, the US Department of Justice indicated in May that it would not file criminal charges against former officers who did not immediately open the investigation and who lied about it.
The gymnasts assert that the FBI’s delay in acting caused women and other girls to continue to be abused by an orthopedic doctor.
image source, Scott Olson/Getty Images
Larry Nassar was sentenced to life imprisonment.
“If the FBI had just done their job, Nassar would have been caught before he had a chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said Samantha Roy, a former gymnast at the University of Michigan.
Last December, the athletes reached an agreement after a legal battle against the American Gymnastics Association. USA gymnasticswhere they received compensation of 380 million US dollars.
Michigan State University, which has also been accused of ignoring the lawsuits against Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted by a doctor.
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