2 min to read
Posted on

Abuse in sport: victims demand a billion from the FBI

Dozens of US gymnasts are demanding more than a billion dollars in damages from the FBI. The abuse victims accuse the federal agency of not taking action when the first allegations of abuse against sports doctor Larry Nassar came to light.

With world star Simone Biles as the most prominent abuse victim, dozens of gymnasts in the US are seeking a claim against the FBI for more than a billion US dollars. As the US news agency AP reported on Wednesday, the agency is to pay damages for its failure in the Larry Nassar case. The gymnasts accuse the FBI of failing to act back in 2015 when the first allegations of sexual abuse by the former doctor of the gymnasts and Michigan State University came to light.

“If the FBI had just done their job, Nassar could have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls including me,” said Samantha Roy, a former University of Michigan gymnast. Referring to the California law firm Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, which specialises in sexual abuse cases, some 90 victims are said to be seeking the billion-dollar claim. It initially remained open whether a lawsuit had already been filed.

Investigations were only started in 2016

The investigations were only started in 2016. A total of three sentences had been handed down against Nassar, with sentences totalling up to 175 years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.

In November 2021, Nassar’s victims were awarded $380 million (337 million euros) in compensation by a court in Indianapolis. The verdict ended several years of litigation between the US Gymnastics Federation and the National Olympic and Paralympic Committee on the one side and the victims on the other.

In 2018, Michigan State University had already agreed to pay $500 million in compensation. Nassar had taught medicine there and is alleged to have committed most of the known abuses there.

By Thomas