A group of 90 women—including U.S. Olympic team gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney—are seeking more than $1 billion in damages from the FBI.
The women claim the bureau mishandled its sexual abuse investigation of former U.S. Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar. According to a press release by the claimants’ legal team, the women filed federal collective administrative claims against the FBI on June 8 alleging that they were still being abused by Nassar despite already reporting his behavior to the bureau in 2015. The claimants say the FBI “was grossly derelict in their duties” by choosing not to interview gymnasts who were willing to talk about the sexual abuse and not transferring the complaints to Michigan State University, where Nassar continued “to abuse girls,” per the release.
The women also allege that the FBI ignored “its obligation to report child abuse to relevant state and federal agencies and lying to Congress, the media and FBI headquarters about their lack of diligence in investigating the Nassar complaint.” Because of the FBI’s alleged negligence, the women say Nassar “continued his predatory behavior” and sexually assaulted “approximately 90 young women and children” between July 2015 and September 2016.