The US Justice Department will pay $137 million to survivors of disgraced national gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar due to mishandling of sexual assault complaints by the FBI. Larry Nassar, currently serving up to 175 years in prison, saw patients for over a year post-allegations. The settlement includes US Olympic gymnastics gold medallists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney. An investigation revealed FBI errors in handling allegations against Nassar, leading to delayed action and ongoing risks to athletes. The settlements aim to provide critical support for victims' healing.
The Justice Department will pay more than $100 million to Larry Nassar's victims after the FBI's mishandling of sexual abuse allegations against the former USA Gymnastics doctor, with the money to be distributed among over 100 victims including Olympians Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Aly Raisman. Nassar's conviction faced a delay of over a year due to FBI agents' limited follow-up, and the settlement, if finalized, will bring total abuse settlements from Nassar's crimes to nearly $1 billion. Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics had separate payouts totaling $880 million for Nassar's survivors.
The US Justice Department has agreed to pay $100 million to 100 victims of former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar due to the FBI's failures in the investigation. This settlement brings the total amount for all legal cases against Nassar to nearly $1 billion. Nassar, sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting girls, was also involved in a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee in 2021, and a $500 million settlement with Michigan State in 2018.
The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnasts—primarily minors—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.More than 500 athletes alleged that they were sexually assaulted by gym owners, coaches, and staff working for gymnastics programs across the country, including USA Gymnastics (USAG) and Michigan State University (MSU). Hundreds of them sued USAG, MSU, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC, later USOPC), which settled the suits in 2018 and 2021 for a total of nearly $900 million. The breadth of the abuses was first revealed by The Indianapolis Star, which reported in September 2016 that "predatory coaches were allowed to move from gym to gym, undetected by a lax system of oversight, or dangerously passed on by USA Gymnastics-certified gyms". Coaches and officials perpetrated, facilitated, or worked to conceal abuse in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Rhode Island, Indiana, and elsewhere. FBI agents declined to investigate early allegations of abuse, then lied about it, according to a U.S. Justice Department report. Leaders of USAG, MSU, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC, later USOPC) ultimately resigned; several coaches and officials faced criminal charges.A central figure was Larry Nassar, a national-team doctor for USAG and osteopathic physician in MSU's athletic department. More than 265 women said Nassar had sexually abused them under the pretense of providing medical treatment, including former USAG national team members Jessica Howard, Jamie Dantzscher, Morgan White, Jeanette Antolin, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Jordyn Wieber, Sabrina Vega, Ashton Locklear, Kyla Ross, Madison Kocian, Amanda Jetter, Tasha Schwikert, Mattie Larson, Bailie Key, Kennedy Baker, Alyssa Baumann, and Terin Humphrey. In 2017 and 2018, Nassar pleaded guilty to federal charges of child pornography and state charges of first-degree sexual assault; he received sentences of 60 years in prison plus another 80 to 300 years.Dozens of officials at USAG, USOC, and MSU resigned under pressure or were fired. Some faced criminal charges, though few were convicted. The scandal led to the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, which directed the creation of the U.S. Center for SafeSport. In 2018, MSU agreed to pay $500 million to settle lawsuits accusing university leaders, including its president and athletic director, of enabling Nassar's abuse. In 2021, the USOPC and USAG settled lawsuits brought by more than 500 athletes for $380 million.
Lawrence Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is a former American physiatrist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes.In 2016, Nassar was charged with sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment. His victims included numerous Olympic and United States women's national gymnastics team gymnasts.Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on December 7, 2017, after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and tampering with evidence on July 11, 2017. On January 24, 2018, Nassar was sentenced to an additional 40 to 175 years in Michigan State Prison, after pleading guilty in Ingham County to seven counts of sexual assault. On February 5, 2018, he was sentenced to an additional 40 to 125 years in Michigan State Prison after pleading guilty to an additional three counts of sexual assault in Eaton County.On the orders of the judge in charge of the federal case, his state prison sentences are to run consecutively with his federal sentence, ensuring a de facto sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Nassar will be transferred to a Michigan state prison when he is released from federal custody; his two state sentences will be served concurrently. He is a central figure of the 2020 film Athlete A, a documentary about the scandal.
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