COACHING IS ABUSIVE

US gymnasts slam FBI, USA Gymnastics, Olympic committee over Nassar abuse

Issued on: 15/09/2021 - 

US gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary hearing about the FBI's handling of sexual abuse by former team doctor Larry Nassar 

SAUL LOEB POOL/AFP

Washington (AFP)

US gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols excoriated USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee and the FBI in powerful Senate testimony on Wednesday for failing to take immediate action over sexual abuse allegations against team doctor Larry Nassar.

"We have been failed and we deserve answers," said the 24-year-old Biles, a seven-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated gymnast in world championships history.

While condemning the inaction of the FBI, the gymnasts had harsh words for the leadership of USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

"We suffered and continue to suffer because no one at the FBI, USAG or USOPC did what was necessary to protect us," Biles said.

Maroney, who won a team gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, said she reported the abuse by USA Gymnastics doctor Nassar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2015.

"They allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year," the 25-year-old Maroney told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "They had legal, legitimate evidence of child abuse and did nothing."

Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting women and girls while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University (MSU).

Hundreds of women -- including Olympians, gymnasts and collegiate athletes -- have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them over the course of his more than two-decade career.

US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI handling of the investigation of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar 

SAUL LOEB POOL/AFP

Biles, Maroney, Raisman and Nichols were invited to testify before the Senate committee about the "FBI's dereliction of duty in the Nassar case."

Nichols, who won a gold medal at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, said she reported Nassar's abuse to USA Gymnastics leadership in 2015.

"I am haunted by the fact that even after I reported my abuse so many women and girls had to suffer at the hands of Larry Nassar," Nichols said.

"USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee have all betrayed me and those who were abused by Larry Nassar," the 24-year-old Nichols said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray and Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department Inspector General, are scheduled to testify before the Senate panel later Wednesday in a separate session.

Horowitz's office was the author of a damning report published in July that looked into the FBI's handling of accusations against Nassar.

It found that despite the "extraordinarily serious nature of the allegations," senior officials in the Indianapolis Field Office of the FBI failed to respond with the "utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved."

US Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI handling of the investigation of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar

 POOL GETTY IMAGES/AFP

USA Gymnastics reported Nassar to the FBI in July 2015, but he continued to see patients at MSU until a newspaper exposed him in September 2016.

© 2021 AFP

Gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney rip FBI at Senate hearing on Larry Nassar


BY TJ MACIAS
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 

Simone Biles testifies before Congress on FBI's handling of Larry Nassar's abuse allegations

Gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols gave powerful testimonies before a Senate committee against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar on Wednesday.

In a cascade of raw emotion, the athletes called out the FBI, Justice Department and others for failing to protect them and others against the sexual abuse they were exposed to at the hands of Nassar.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children,” Biles said in her opening statement. “It is the power of that statement that compels me to be in front of you today. I don’t want another young gymnast, Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that I and hundreds of others have endured before, during, and continuing to this day in the wake of the Larry Nassar abuse.”

During Maroney’s opening statement, the decorated gymnast called out the FBI’s handling of her claims.

“After telling my entire story of abuse to the FBI in the summer of 2015, not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report, 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,” she said.

Raisman said that she felt “pressured by the FBI to consent to Nassar’s plea deal” and that it took over 14 months for them to get back to her after she made several requests to be interviewed.



“In 2015, it was known that at least six national team athletes had been abused by Nassar,” Raisman said. “There was even one of the athletes that was abused on film. Given our abuser’s unfettered access to children, stopping him should have been a priority. Instead, the following occurred: The FBI failed to interview pertinent parties in a timely manner. It took over 14 months for the FBI to contact me despite my many requests to be interviewed by them.”

Maroney said that the FBI committed “an obvious crime” and that action needs to be taken.

“They had legal, legitimate evidence of child abuse and did nothing. If they’re not going to protect me, I want to know who are they trying to protect?” she said.

“What’s even more upsetting to me is that we know that these FBI agents have committed an obvious crime. They falsified my statement, and that is illegal in itself. Yet no recourse has been taken against them. The Department of Justice refused to prosecute these individuals. Why?” she asked. “Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco couldn’t bring herself to be here today. It’s the Department of Justice’s job to hold them accountable.”



Nichols, who was the first to report the abuse, said that it took the FBI more than a year to contact her after she initially reported it.

“The cover-up of my abuse and the FBI’s failure to interview me for more than a year after my complaint are well documented in the OIG report. After I reported my abuse to USA Gymnastics, my family and I were told by their former president, Steve Penny, to keep quiet and not say anything that could hurt the FBI investigation. We now know there was no real FBI investigation occurring. While my complaints [were] with the FBI, Larry Nassar continued to abuse women and girls,” she said.


United States gymnasts from left, Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols leave after testifying at a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General’s report on the FBI’s handling of the Larry Nassar investigation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in Washington. Nassar was charged in 2016 with federal child pornography offenses and sexual abuse charges in Michigan. He is now serving decades in prison after hundreds of girls and women said he sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment when he worked for Michigan State and Indiana-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. 

SAUL LOEB AP

TJ MACIAS is a Real-Time national sports reporter for McClatchy based out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Formerly, TJ covered the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers beat for numerous media outlets including 24/7 Sports and Mavs Maven (Sports Illustrated). Twitter: @TayloredSiren