The Justice Department is facing a lawsuit over its initial failure to investigate former USA Gymnastics team doctor Lawrence G. Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing girls in his custody, according to people familiar with the matter. , is said to be nearing a $100 million settlement.
The agreement, which could be announced in the coming weeks, brings an end to one of the last major scandals stemming from the horrific sports scandal, with about 100 victims set to receive compensation. will be hit.
Two and a half years have passed since FBI officials publicly acknowledged that they failed to act quickly when U.S. national team players filed complaints about Nassar with the agency's Indianapolis field office in 2015. We work with Olympic athletes and college athletes.
The outline of the negotiations has been determined but is not yet complete, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss continuing negotiations.
Details of the settlement were first reported by The Wall Street Journal..
This is the latest in a series of huge summaries that reflect the institution's inability to protect hundreds of athletes, including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Aly Riseman, from a doctor who justified his own serial sexual abuse. This is the latest in reparations. Unconventional treatment.
In 2018, Michigan State University, which employed Mr. Nassar, paid more than $500 million to the Victim Compensation Fund, believed to be the largest university settlement in a sexual abuse case. Three years later, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee reached a $380 million settlement.
Many of the girls and women abused by Mr. Nassar have struggled with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and have committed suicide as a result of the abuse he carried out under the guise of medical treatment. Some people have failed.
A 2021 report by the Justice Department's inspector general said FBI officials in the Indianapolis field office did not respond to the allegations “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that is due and required” until after reporting. It turned out that the investigation could not proceed. He detailed Nassar's abuses.
The inspector general's report said FBI officials also “made a number of fundamental errors in their response” to the allegations, including failing to notify state and local governments of the allegations or responding to Mr. Nassar's threats. No other measures were taken. .
In heartbreaking testimony two months later, former members of the national gymnastics team describe how the FBI turned a blind eye to Nassar's abuse while the investigation stalled and children suffered. said. Some, including Riseman, said the investigation moved slowly, even after investigators provided the department with graphic evidence of his actions.
The revelations prompted an unusual apology from FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was not overseeing the bureau when the investigation began. “I'm sorry that so many people have let you down so many times. And I'm especially sorry that there were people in the FBI who had a unique chance to stop this monster in 2015. I think so,” he said.
“This should never happen and we are doing everything we can to ensure it never happens again,” he added.
The impending settlement is one of several the Justice Department has reached over the past decade.
Others included victims of mass shootings. The families of the 26 people killed in the 2017 Texas church shooting received $144.5 million. The Department of Justice awarded $127.5 million to the family of the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting.
Nassar, who is serving a 60-year sentence in a federal prison in Florida, was stabbed multiple times by an inmate in July. He suffered a collapsed lung but survived injury.
