Evidence-tampering charges dismissed against former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny

Charges of evidence tampering against former USA Gymnastics president and CEO Steve Penny have been dismissed, according to court documents filed last week in Walker County, Texas.

The dismissal closes a chapter in a criminal case in which survivors of disgraced Team USA doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse had hoped to gain a greater degree of accountability from the people they consider to be among Nassar's many enablers.

Walker County Texas District Attorney Will Durham declined to comment to ESPN on Tuesday, referring a reporter instead to a dismissal letter, filed on April 14, which reads in part, «there is now insufficient evidence to prosecute according to current law and facts present in the case.»

«It's a very clear picture, one more time, of why survivors don't report and why abuse is enabled,» said Rachael Denhollander, an attorney and former club-level gymnast, who first reported Nassar's sexual assaults to police in August 2016.

«Every time survivors see something like this happen it's retraumatizing. For survivors everywhere, it's a slap in the face,» Denhollander added.

Penny's attorney, Rusty Hardin, did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Penny had resigned as USAG CEO in March 2017. He was originally indicted in September 2018 for tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony in Texas. According to that indictment, Penny was aware in November 2016 of a criminal investigation into Nassar's serial sexual assaults on Team USA gymnasts at the famed Karolyi ranch near Huntsville, Texas, when he ordered USA Gymnastics employees at the ranch to remove any documents related to Nassar.

Former USAG national team travel manager Amy White told attorneys investigating the case on behalf of the then-United