Larry Nassar survivors seeking over $1 billion from FBI for not intervening in abuse

DETROIT — Former Olympic gymnasts, including gold medalist Simone Biles, are among dozens of sexual assault survivors who are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop sports doctor Larry Nassar, lawyers said Wednesday.

There is no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused of molesting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year.

«It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,» said Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma from 2017 to 2019.

Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claims filed Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI's response. The Justice Department said in May that it would not pursue criminal charges against former FBI agents who failed to quickly open an investigation.

The approximately 90 claimants include Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law firm.

«If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,» said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.

Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local FBI agents in 2015 that three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Nassar, a team doctor. But the FBI did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the Justice Department's inspector general, an internal watchdog.

Los Angeles FBI agents in 2016 began a sexual tourism investigation against Nassar and interviewed several survivors but also didn't alert Michigan authorities, the inspector general said.

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