Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Maggie Nichols said the FBI did not follow up on their reports of Larry Nassar’s abuse for more than a year.
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles broke down in tears Wednesday, testifying that the"FBI turned a blind eye to" the multiple reports of abuse against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who is behind bars for sexually abusing more than 200 young athletes over nearly two decades.
"Not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,” Maroney testified. “They chose to lie about what I said and protect a serial child molester rather than protect not only me but countless others.”
"We now know there was no real FBI investigation occurring. While my complaints languished with the FBI, Larry Nassar continued to abuse women and girls," she said.USAG shortly after the first accusations were levied against him, but the organization failed to inform the other institutions where he worked about them.
"I remember sitting with the FBI agent and him trying to convince me that it wasn't that bad," Raisman said."It's taken me years of therapy to realize that my abuse was bad, that it does matter." She added that the FBI agent encouraged her not to pursue criminal charges against Nassar. "What is the point of reporting abuse if our own FBI agents are going to take it upon themselves to bury that report in a drawer?” she asked. “They had legal, legitimate evidence of child abuse and did nothing. If they’re not going to protect me, I want to know who are they trying to protect.”by the FBI days before Wednesday's hearing.
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