U.S. Olympians Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman among 90 women asking FBI for $1 billion for mishandling of Larry Nassar sex abuse case

A group representing 90 women, including U.S. Olympic team gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, are demanding justice.

On Wednesday, the group of woman filed federal tort claims against the FBI seeking more than $1 billion in damages for the bureau’s mishandling of its investigation into the sexual abuse by former U.S. Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar, NBC reported.

Nassar pleaded guilty in 2017 to sexually abusing and assaulting underage girls while pretending to treat them for injuries. There were 125 victims who reported that the doctor abused them, including several prominent Olympic gymnasts, MassLive previously reported.

His abuse was reported to the FBI in 2015, “during a yearlong period in which no meaningful investigative action was taken and Nassar continued to sexually abuse young women and children,” NBC said.

Many are women athletes who were associated with the USA Gymnastics program or with Michigan State University, where Nassar maintained a clinic.

Despite the many claims of abuse by dozens of women, primarily minors, the Justice Department announced before the Memorial Day weekend that the individual FBI agents who are responsible for the failure of the investigation would not face charges.

“My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us — the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice,” Maroney said in a statement, according to NBC. “It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process.”

The claims are being filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, NBC reported. This allows people who have been harmed by “negligent or wrongful actions of the federal government” to seek reparation.

“The FBI knew that Larry Nassar was a danger to children when his abuse of me was first reported in September of 2015. For 421 days they worked with USA Gymnastics and USOPC to hide this information from the public and allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women and girls. It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” said NCAA national champion gymnast Maggie Nichols according to NBC, the first Nassar victim whose case was reported to the FBI.

The FBI and the Justice Department have yet to comment, NBC said. However, in a testimony to Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray acknowledged that “people at the FBI had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.”

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina in 2018 sentenced Nassar to up to 175 years in prison.

Related Content:

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.