by Newser Editors, Newser Staff
Posted Apr 17, 2024 3:16 PM CDT
https://www.newser.com/story/349185/fbi ... ng-so.html
The final legal claims against the institutions that in one way or another failed the athletes who were victimized by Larry Nassar have been settled. The Justice Department announced it will pay roughly $100 million to 100 victims of the former national women's gymnastics team doctor in connection with the FBI's failure to act on reports that he was abusing athletes. The settlement has not been finalized, but the Wall Street Journal and USA Today say sources confirm the DOJ has agreed to pay that amount. They had sought more than $1 billion from the FBI. This settlement would bring the total liability-related legal payouts to victims to just shy of $1 billion (see this and this). The FBI's mishandling of the complaints it received was detailed in a 2021 report from the DOJ's inspector general:
• USA Gymnastics shared the gymnasts' allegations of molestation with the Indianapolis field office on July 28, 2015.
• There was apparently confusion among the agents about jurisdiction: USA Gymnastics is headquartered in Indianapolis, but there were no allegations that involved Nassar treating gymnasts in that city.
• Though the report stated Indianapolis agents told USA Gymnastics they had transferred the allegations to the FBI's resident agency in Lansing, Michigan, they actually hadn't done so.
• After the July 2015 meeting, which wasn't formally documented, Indianapolis agents interviewed only one gymnast, McKayla Maroney.
• The FBI did not reach out to state or local law enforcement or do anything else that might have safeguarded Nassar's patients and otherwise failed to act for more than 14 months, during which Nassar allegedly abused another 40 people, reports ABC News.
*****************************
FBI: We Blew It on Larry Nassar Investigation: Watchdog says dozens more athletes were abused while agency mishandled allegations
by Rob Quinn, Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2021 6:17 AM CDT
https://www.newser.com/story/308576/fbi ... ation.html
The FBI has admitted that its agents' conduct in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case was "inexcusable" and a discredit to the agency. The FBI issued a statement after the release of a Justice Department watchdog report that outlined massive failures in the investigation of the former Team USA gymnastics doctor, who sexually abused hundreds of female athletes, the Wall Street Journal reports. The inspector general's report said officials with the FBI's Indianapolis field office failed to treat abuse allegations in 2015 with the "utmost seriousness," made "numerous and fundamental errors" in their investigation, and then lied to cover up their mistakes, per the Indianapolis Star. The FBI failed to contact state or local law enforcement about the risk Nassar presented to athletes, the report states.
The report states that after Indiana-based USA Gymnastics reported gymnasts' complaints to the FBI, the agency did almost nothing for a year—and Nassar, who also worked for Michigan State University, continued to abuse women and girls during that time. The report says that according to civil court documents, another "70 or more young athletes were allegedly sexually abused under the guise of medical treatment" before Nassar's arrest in late 2016. The watchdog said W. Jay Abbott, the agent in charge of the Indianapolis office at the time, made "materially false" statements to investigators looking into the agency's mishandling of the case, and violated ethics rules by negotiating for a job at the US Olympic Committee during the investigation, the AP reports. Attorneys for Nassar's victims say Abbott, who has now retired, should be prosecuted. (More Larry Nassar stories.)
***********************
DOJ OIG Releases Report of Investigation and Review of the FBI’s Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA Gymnastics Physician Lawrence Gerard Nassar
Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today the release of an Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA Gymnastics Physician Lawrence Gerard Nassar.
by U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General
July 14, 2021
Press Release
https://oig.justice.gov/news/doj-oig-re ... use-former
The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that senior officials in the FBI Indianapolis Field Office failed to respond to allegations of sexual abuse of athletes by former USA Gymnastics physician Lawrence Gerard Nassar with the urgency that the allegations required. We also found that the FBI Indianapolis Field Office made fundamental errors when it did respond to the allegations, failed to notify the appropriate FBI field office (the Lansing Resident Agency) or state or local authorities of the allegations, and failed to take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar.
After eight months of inaction by the FBI Indianapolis Field Office, the FBI Los Angeles Field Office received the same allegations. The OIG found that while the Los Angeles Field Office took numerous investigative steps, it too failed to notify the FBI Lansing Resident Agency or state or local authorities of the allegations, and failed to take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar. The FBI Lansing Resident Agency did not become aware of the Nassar allegations until after the Michigan State University Police Department (MSUPD) executed a search warrant on Nassar’s residence in September 2016, following the MSUPD’s receipt of separate complaints of sexual abuse by Nassar, and discovered child pornography at Nassar’s residence. During this period from July 2015, when the allegations were first reported to the FBI, to September 2016, Nassar continued to treat gymnasts at Michigan State University, a high school in Michigan, and a gymnastics club in Michigan. Ultimately the investigations determined that Nassar had engaged in sexual assaults of over 100 victims and possessed thousands of images of child pornography, led to his convictions in federal and state court, and resulted in Nassar being sentenced to incarceration for over 100 years.
The OIG further found that, when the FBI’s handling of the Nassar matter came under scrutiny from the public, Congress, the media, and FBI headquarters in 2017 and 2018, Indianapolis Field Office officials did not take responsibility for their failures. Instead, they provided incomplete and inaccurate information to make it appear that they had been diligent in responding to the sexual abuse allegations.
The specific findings of the report include:
• Officials in the Indianapolis Field Office violated numerous FBI policies in handling the Nassar allegations. Specifically, officials in the Indianapolis Field Office:
o failed to formally document a July 28, 2015 meeting with USA Gymnastics during which the FBI first received the allegations against Nassar;
o failed to properly handle and document receipt and review of relevant evidence, i.e., a thumb drive provided by USA Gymnastics President Stephen D. Penny, Jr.;
o failed to document until February 2017 an interview of a gymnast that was conducted on September 2, 2015, during which the gymnast alleged sexual assault by Nassar; and
o failed to transfer the Nassar allegations to the FBI Lansing Resident Agency, where venue most likely would have existed for potential federal crimes.
• Indianapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge (SAC) W. Jay Abbott and an Indianapolis Field Office Supervisory Special Agent (Indianapolis SSA) made false statements. Specifically, we concluded that the gymnast interview summary that the Indianapolis SSA drafted in February 2017, 17 months after the interview took place, contained materially false statements and omitted material information. We further concluded that the Indianapolis SSA made materially false statements when twice questioned by the OIG about the victim interview. In addition, we concluded that Abbott made materially false statements during his OIG interviews to minimize errors made by the Indianapolis Field Office in connection with the handling of the Nassar allegations.
• Abbott violated FBI policy and exercised extremely poor judgment under federal ethics rules when he, without prior authorization, communicated with Penny about a potential job opportunity with the U.S. Olympic Committee, an entity with which Penny had professional connections. Abbott communicated with Penny about the potential job opportunity while the two continued to discuss the allegations against Nassar and while Abbott took an active role in conversations about the FBI’s public statements regarding USA Gymnastics’ handling of those allegations. Abbott should have known—and we found that he in fact did know—that this conduct would raise questions regarding his impartiality. Further, Abbott applied for the position with the U.S. Olympic Committee, and then falsely denied that he had done so when questioned by the OIG on two separate occasions.
In addition, the OIG identified shortcomings in the FBI’s policies, including its policy regarding notification of local law enforcement agencies in child exploitation cases, that should be further assessed to ensure that the FBI can more effectively handle these types of matters. The DOJ OIG made four recommendations to the FBI to address the concerns we identified. The FBI agreed with the recommendations.