USA Gymnasts Testify Against FBI In Larry Nassar Case

by Seth Udinski

Seth Udinski, FISM News

 

USA Gymnastics and the FBI are under heavy scrutiny from former USA gold-medal gymnasts regarding the sexual abuse case of former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Several gymnasts, including gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Mikayla Maroney, testified before Congress in an emotional hearing on Wednesday, detailing the toll that Nassar’s abuse had on them. The congressional hearings are looking into the failures of the FBI investigation into Nassar in an effort to hold the agency accountable.

A Justice Department investigation in June determined that the FBI did not treat the case with “utmost seriousness” after allegations of abuse were reported in 2015, as delays in the investigation allowed abuse to continue for several more years at the hands of Nassar. 5-time world champion gymnast Simone Biles declared herself a survivor of sexual abuse and said,

I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.

Biles also called to account USAG and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee for their complicit actions to cover up this abuse,

This is the largest case of sexual abuse in the history of American sport, and although there has been an independent investigation of the FBI’s handling of the case, neither USAG nor the USOPC have ever been made the subject of the same level of scrutiny.

Maroney, a 2012 gold medalist, added to Biles’ testimony, saying she suffered due to a former FBI member’s falsified testimony about her abuse:

By not taking action from my report, they [the FBI] allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year. They had legal evidence of child abuse and did nothing….They chose to falsify my report and minimize my abuse.

Nassar is currently serving a175-year sentence in federal custody. According to several sources Nassar sexually abused several hundred underage girls during his tenure as the USAG team doctor.

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