Victims of disgraced former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar will receive a $138.7 million payout from the U.S. government after the FBI failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
The 139 victims will each receive nearly $1 million because the FBI failed to intervene despite receiving information that could have stopped the abuse.
“For decades, Mr. Lawrence Nassar abused his position and violated the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while avoiding responsibility,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. said.
FBI exposes serial pedophile cover-up pic.twitter.com/VglhR29KNO
— E (@ElijahSchaffer) September 15, 2021
“These allegations should have been taken seriously from the beginning. While these settlements do not undo the harm Nassar did, it is our hope that the victims of Nassar’s crimes will continue to heal. It’s about helping to provide some of the critical support that is needed.”
Simone Biles at Senate hearing on the FBI’s response to the Nassar investigation:
“I blame Larry Nassar, but I also blame the entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have made it clear that I received abuse from official team doctors. I knew that.” pic.twitter.com/Ghm3ueLwFM
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 15, 2021
The FBI is accused of waiting a year before contacting Nassar’s victims, during which time more women were abused. FBI agents Michael Langemann and Jay Abbut, who were directly involved, were not criminally charged. Langemann was fired in the summer of 2021 and Abbott retired, according to the FBI.
The $138.7 million payment is not the first settlement Nassar victims have received. In 2018, Michigan State University, where Nassar practiced, agreed to pay $500 million to victims. In 2021, USA Gymnastics agreed to pay its athletes $380 million.
Larry Nassar listens in court before being sentenced by Judge Janice Cunningham on three counts of sexual assault in Eaton County Circuit Court on February 5, 2018 in Charlotte, Michigan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Nassar will spend the rest of his life in prison. In 2023, an inmate stabbed Nassar repeatedly after the former doctor allegedly insisted on watching Wimbledon’s “The Girls” on TV.
