In the scandal surrounding the convicted former American gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, 13 victims are demanding compensation from the FBI for allegations of serious investigative failures.
Multiple Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is also testifying at the Capitol in September 2021 during the investigation into the FBI’s misconduct in the Nassar case.
(dpa) · It’s about 130 million US dollars – 10 million dollars for each victim, said the lawyer for those affected on Thursday at the request of the German Press Agency. The Department of Justice’s investigative agency now has six months to respond to the request before it could possibly file a lawsuit, said attorney Jamie White. At this point in the legal process, he was unable to name the 13 victims. His law firm is based in Okemos, Michigan.
The former gymnastics doctor Nassar had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 175 years since the summer of 2017 in a total of three judgments for his criminal assaults, including against minors. He pleaded guilty to sexually abusing several girls. In total, hundreds of gymnasts and their parents had sued him, including Olympic champions Simone Biles, Alexandra Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
380 million already spoken
At the end of 2021, a court in Indianapolis awarded Nassar’s victims $380 million in compensation after years of litigation between the American Gymnastics Federation and the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees on the one hand and the victims on the other. According to the American media, the sum covered claims from “hundreds of women”. Efforts are now being made to hold the government accountable as well.
Biles, Raisman and Maroney made serious allegations against the FBI and the sports associations involved at a hearing in the US Congress in September 2021. Among other things, they complained that the FBI had not followed up on their tips for a long time and was thus partly to blame for Nassar being able to abuse many other girls.
Biles not among the plaintiffs
White clarified that Biles, Raisman and Maroney are not among the 13 women he represents.
A report released in July 2021 by the Office of the Inspector General at the US Department of Justice also concluded that the FBI mishandled allegations of Nassar’s sexual abuse, allowing him months for further action. FBI officials did not respond with the “seriousness and urgency” needed to allegations of this type, it said.