Larry Nassar investigation not treated with ‘utmost seriousness’ by FBI, inspector general finds
The FBI investigation into disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was handled poorly and moved too slowly despite information that his heinous sexual abuse was ongoing, a report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General released Wednesday shows.
A long-awaited and scathing report found that “despite the extraordinarily serious nature of the allegations and the possibility that Nassar’s conduct could be continuing, senior officials in the FBI Indianapolis Field Office failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required.”
The Office of the Inspector General also wrote in its finding that agents “made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and violated multiple FBI policies.”
At least 40 girls and women claim they were molested by Nassar throughout the 14-month period in which the FBI was aware of sexual abuse allegations against the 58-year-old team physician, and when they took action.
His inappropriate behavior was first reported to the FBI in Indianapolis in 2015 following an internal investigation by the USA Gymnastics organization. After eight months of inactivity from agents in Indiana, USA Gymnastics officials reached out to the bureau’s Los Angeles office.
While the L.A. field office is credited for moving the investigation forward, agents there are faulted in the report for a failure to immediately notify law enforcement in Michigan, where Nassar lived and worked, and in Texas, where he also treated athletes.
According to the report, because FBI agents in L.A. had interviewed victims, they should have known to “take other action to mitigate the ongoing danger that Nassar posed.”
When questioned, FBI officials in Indianapolis took no responsibility for their alleged negligence and provided information that was not accurate to fellow agents looking into the matter.
The bureau acknowledged its shortcoming and said both the actions and inaction of employees faulted in the OIG report were “inexcusable” and a “discredit to this organization.”
The FBI also vowed to distance itself from the agents who performed poorly in the Nassar case and take measures to avoid future failures of the same kind.
Nassar was finally charged in December 2016 when authorities found tens of thousands of pornographic images on his computer involving children. More than 150 women stepped forward to testify at the twisted osteopath’s sentencing hearing. He was sentenced to life behind bars in January 2017.
Among Nassir’s victims was six-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, who delivered a powerful 13 minute address at his sentencing, where she was joined by other sexual abuse survivors.
“Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force and you are nothing,” she said.
Raisman said Nassar first treated her when she was 15. According to Raisman, he abused her for years, including during the 2012 London Olympics, where she became the first American woman to bring home gold in the floor exercise. She made clear to Nassar at his hearing that she still loved the sport and that his legacy would be her next conquest.
“You have not taken gymnastics away from me,” Raisman said. “But I am here to tell you that I will not rest until every last trace of your influence on this sport has been destroyed like the cancer it is.”
With News Wire Services
