Simone Biles, Aly Raisman Say FBI Mishandled Larry Nassar Investigation
Simone Biles and Aly Raisman were among the Olympic gymnasts who took the stand Wednesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for their case against the disgraced former doctor for Team USA, Larry Nassar.
Biles and Raisman told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the current and former FBI agents should be held accountable for mishandling the investigation of Nassar.
Per a report from the Department of Justice obtained by ESPN, “FBI agents failed to respond with the ‘seriousness and urgency’ required after first hearing reports about Nassar’s abuse in the summer of 2015.” The report claims that “agents mishandled evidence and later made false statements to investigators about the mistakes they made.”
“It truly feels like the FBI turned a blind eye to us,” Biles told the Senate on Wednesday.
Raisman told the senators it took over 14 months for FBI agents to contact her after her initial report of Nassar’s sexual assaults to USA Gymnastics in June 2015 per the sports news outlet.
“Why would duly sworn officers ignore reports of abuse across state lines?” Raisman asked the senators.
Former teammates, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols also took the stand alongside Biles and Raisman.
“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,” Maroney testified and added, “They chose to falsify my report and minimize my abuse.”
Biles also spoke out on the USAG and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s responsibility in their role as well, “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.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray also testified on the bureau’s behalf.
“I’m deeply and profoundly sorry,” Wray told the gymnasts. “… I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster in 2015 and failed. It never should have happened. And we’re doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again.”
Currently, Nassar remains in federal prison, where he is serving a 60-year sentence for child pornography which was found in September of 2016. Nassar also plead guilty in 2018 to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Michigan state court, which added as long as 175 years to his prison sentence, per ESPN.
