[ad_1]
Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles through tears blamed the FBI, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee during a Senate panel on Wednesday for allowing Larry Nassar, former team doctor to disgraced American gymnastics, mistreating dozens of women and children.
“USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee knew I had been abused by their official team doctor long before I knew about their knowledge,” Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We have suffered and continue to suffer because no one in the FBI, USAG or USOPC did what was necessary to protect us,” Bile said. “We failed.”
Other elite gymnastics athletes Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols also testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI’s failure to investigate the sexual abuse allegations against Nassar in 2015.
All four gymnasts said they were abused by Nassar, with Nichols being the first athlete to file a sexual abuse complaint against Nassar with senior officials at USA Gymnastics.
During his testimony, Maroney criticized the FBI for falsifying its abuse allegations against Nassar.
“After telling my whole story of abuse to the FBI in the summer of 2015, not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they finally documented my report 17 months later, they made completely false statements. on what I said, ”Maroney said.
“What’s the point of reporting abuse, if our own FBI agents take it upon themselves to bury this report in the drawer?” Asked Maroney.
Raisman spoke direct words about agency failures when she spoke.
“It was like serving innocent children to a pedophile on a silver platter,” Raisman said.
Nichols, like his fellow gymnasts, stressed that lawmakers should hold everyone involved in chess accountable and cover up Nassar’s abuse.
“For hundreds of Larry Nassar survivors, this hearing is one of our last opportunities for justice,” said Nichols. “We ask you to do what is in your power to ensure that those who engage in wrongdoing are held accountable under the law.”
The Justice Department Inspector General released a scathing 119-page report in July that found Indianapolis FBI officials made false statements, did not respond for months, which led to more than 100 other gymnasts to be sexually assaulted and to show “extremely poor judgment” in dealing with the allegations against Nassar.
The report also states that the FBI field office in Indianapolis did not respond “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that the allegations deserved and demanded.”
Judicial Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Called the FBI’s handling of the case a “stain on the desk,” while senior member Senator Chuck Grassley, R- Iowa called for more responsibility for the actions of the FBI.
“If there’s one thing the Inspector General’s report illustrates, it’s that we need to make sure the office is more efficient and more accountable,” Grassley said.
FBI Director Chris Wray apologized to the four athletes for the FBI’s failures and called the inactions of FBI employees “totally unacceptable”.
“I am deeply and deeply sorry for each of you. I am sorry for what you and your families have gone through. I am sorry that so many different people have let you down over and over again,” Wray said.
“And I’m especially sorry that there were people in the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster in 2015 and failed.”
As a result of the report, an anonymous surveillance special agent involved in the case was reassigned pending the completion of an internal FBI investigation. The agent, identified as Michael Langeman, has since been fired, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
“Stranded FBI Survivors”: Massive systematic failures uncovered in DOJ’s Larry Nassar report
After the first allegations of abuse were brought to light by former USA Gymnastics president Stephen D. Penny Jr. in July 2015, the report revealed that the FBI field office in Indianapolis “performed limited follow-up.” .
The field office also did not alert the relevant authorities, according to the DOJ.
As the investigation dragged on, Nassar continued to work with gymnasts for over a year. The report states that “according to civil court documents, 70 or more young athletes were sexually assaulted under the guise of medical treatment” during this period. A lawyer for Nassar victims alleges he abused at least 120 other women and children.
Nassar’s sexual abuse was publicly exposed in September 2016 by an IndyStar investigation. He pleaded guilty to federal and state charges and was sentenced to over 100 years in prison.
Another failure of the FBI: Larry Nassar debacle is latest in a string of high-profile blackouts
In August, USA Gymnastics reached an agreement on a proposed $ 425 million settlement with more than 500 women who said they had been sexually assaulted by Nassar, their trainer, or someone else affiliated with the sport.
Contributing: Indianapolis star Tim Evans; Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
Former coach sentenced to jail in Nassar-related case
A former Michigan State University gymnastics head coach has been sentenced to 90 days in prison for lying to police during an investigation into Larry Nassar. Kathie Klages has denied knowing about the abuse until 2016, when the survivors came forward. (August 4)
PA
[ad_2]
Source link