by
Larry Nassar
The Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to 100 victims from the former national women's gymnastic team doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulted.
The settlement comes as a result of serious missteps by the FBI that likely allowed Nassar to continue his assaults, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed sources.
The Justice Department's Inspector General investigated the matter and found multiple failings by the FBI which was slow to investigate the mass allegations of sexual assault and failed to probe them properly. The complaints were first brought to the FBI's Indianapolis field office on July 28, 2015, by USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body.
The settlement with the FBI and the victims was reached last fall but hasn't been finalized, the Journal reports.
Some of the claimants include elite gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman.
The Journal notes:
Michigan State University, where complaints about Nassar had been dismissed and buried several times, agreed to settle claims with hundreds of victims for $500 million in 2018, and paid a $4.5 million fine to the U.S. Education Department for violating federal crime-reporting guidelines and failing to protect students.
Nassar is serving what amounts to a life sentence for sexual abuse and pornography charges.
