13 Larry Nassar victims seek $130 million from FBI over botched investigation
Thirteen survivors of Larry Nassar’s sex abuse are demanding a total of $130 million from the FBI — claiming its failure to investigate led to months of more abuse by the sicko sports doctor.
The female athletes allege the federal agency knew about the abuse in July 2015 but turned a blind eye by failing to document interviews with victims and report allegations to its field office in Lansing, Mich., according to the tort claim.
“To know that the FBI could have helped to avoid this trauma disgusts me. It hurts me,” ballerina Grace French, one of the victims named in the legal filings, said at a press conference Thursday.
“They left us at the disposal of a predator,” she said.
Grace and former Michigan State University gymnast Lindsey Lemke join a growing chorus of female athletes — including superstar Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and US gymnasts McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman — who have slammed the FBI over the allegedly botched investigation.
The bungled probe allowed Nassar, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, to prey on more than 100 victims during the 17-month window between when the abuse was reported and his arrest, said Jamie White, a lawyer for the victims.
Instead of reporting the terrors suffered by victims, one FBI agent allegedly applied to work at the United States Olympic Committee soon after speaking to the athletes, White said.
“While he didn’t have the energy or concern to author a report [on the abuse], he had the energy and concern to author a resume,” White said.
“If we can’t report sexual abuse to the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world, who can we report it to?” White said — adding the FBI is required to report the sexual abuse of children immediately.
He said the failure to investigate provided Nassar with “a window” to conduct more “unthinkable terrors.”
Of the 13 victims named in the legal filing, 11 are anonymous, and each is seeking $10 million in damages. If the FBI fails to respond to the tort claim within six months, the victims can sue the agency.
“This incredible systemic breakdown shows that there is needed change in the way that the FBI responds to cases of abuse,” French said. “This is about showing those institutions who continue to harbor, enable, and protect predators that there are consequences for turning a blind eye to abuse through inaction.”
Nassar, who was known for working with Olympic gymnasts and top college athletes, pleaded guilty in January 2018 to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving hundreds of female athletes.
He was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years on sex assault charges — on top of a 60-year sentence for child pornography charges.
