Larry Nassar victims Simone Biles arrive at US Senate to testify

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Simone Biles broke down in tears during Wednesday’s Senate hearing as she recounted the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and revealed how the FBI failed her and dozens of other victims by turning a ‘blind eye’ to the abuse. 

The Olympic athlete, 24, called for the agents who failed to take action for more than a year after the abuse was reported to face federal prosecution as they enabled the sexual predator to continue to prey on dozens of young victims.   

‘To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated that abuse,’ she said.   

Biles was joined by her fellow star athletes and Nassar victims McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman as they each gave damning testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee for its hearing into the FBI’s botched probe into Nassar’s sexual abuse.

The four women testified how they were made to feel the years of abuse they suffered ‘wasn’t a big deal’ when they reported it to FBI agents, who then failed to investigate their allegations.

These shocking failings enabled the predator to carry on his reign of abuse. It’s estimated Nassar abused a further 70 to 120 victims in the 17 months between July 2015 – when victims reported the abuse to the FBI – and December 2016 – when the pedophile was finally arrested on child porn charges. 

All four women testified to lawmakers that they know of athletes who were abused during this period when ‘the FBI did nothing’.  

They all demanded accountability with Biles saying the agents who failed them must ‘at least be federally prosecuted to the fullest extent because they need to be held accountable’.

Senator Patrick Leahy, who had asked what accountability the survivors wanted to see, agreed: ‘As a former prosecutor, I agree with that.’ 

FBI Director Chris Wray issued an apology on behalf of the FBI as testimony after the survivors spoke, saying the agents involved in the botched probe ‘failed in their core duty of protecting people.’

Wray said the FBI agents ‘broke the trust’ of the victims and he said he was ‘deeply and profoundly sorry to each and every one of you.’  

‘That was inexcusable, it never should have happened, and we are doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again,’ he said. 

He admitted ‘I don’t have a have a good explanation’ for the bureau’s failings.  

Wray and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified during the second panel of the hearing after the four survivors gave emotional testimony. 

The hearing examines why the FBI failed to investigate Nassar, 58, for his crimes sooner, leaving the predator free to carry on his reign of abuse for more than a year after allegations were first reported. 

The FBI’s handling of the case came under close scrutiny in a damning report by the Justice Department watchdog released in July.

The report from Justice Department Inspector General Horowitz found the bureau made a series of failures in its handling of allegations against him when they were first alerted to the abuse in 2015.

It named Special Agent in Charge William Jay Abbott who did not formally open an investigation after the allegations were brought to his attention. Abbott has since retired. 

It emerged Tuesday that the FBI has now fired a second agent accused in the report of failing to launch a proper investigation into the allegations.

Michael Langeman, who worked as a supervisory special agent (SSA) in the FBI’s Indianapolis office and interviewed Maroney when she came forward with allegations in 2015, was ousted from his role last week. 

Langeman had been removed from his duties as an agent following the release of the report, which found he failed to properly document the interview for 17 months.

The report also found that two agents ‘lied’ and falsified records about the case and their handling of it when speaking to the watchdog investigators.  

Neither of the agents have been slapped with charges over their handling of the case.  

John Manly, an attorney for many of Nassar’s alleged victims, said Langeman’s firing is ‘long overdue’ but said the timing – just days before the Senate hearing – ‘seems cynical’.  

Wray said the FBI has started implementing all of the recommendations made in the IG’s report as he said the ‘American people are counting on us to do this right every time.’ 

He sent a message to the survivors saying he will make sure ‘everyone at the FBI remembers what happen here in heartbreaking detail’ to make sure it is ‘never repeated.’

‘I am not interested in simply addressing this wrong and moving it on. It’s my commitment to you that I and my entire senior leadership team that everyone at the FBI remembers what happen here in heartbreaking detail,’ he said. 

‘We need to remember that the pain occurred when we fail to do our jobs. That is what we need to know to ensure this tragedy is never repeated.’    

Simone Biles says FBI ‘failed’ Larry Nassar victims and says the abuse took its toll in the delayed Tokyo Olympics as she was forced to live with ‘the reminders of this story for another 365 days.’

Simone Biles said she was failed by the FBI, USA Gymnastics (USAG) and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in their handling of Nassar’s abuse. 

She demanded ‘answers’, saying she fears the same thing could happen to athletes in the future.  

‘I sit before you today to raise my voice so that no little girl must endure what I, the athletes at this table and the countless others needlessly suffered under Nassar’s guise of medical treatment – which we continue to endure to today,’ she said. 

‘We have been failed and we deserve answers. Nassar is where he belongs but those who enabled him deserve to be held accountable.  

‘If they are not, I am convinced that this will continue to happen to others across Olympic sports.’   

Biles testified that, after reading the watchdog report, ‘it truly feels like the FBI turned a blind eye to us and went out of its way to protect USAG and USOPC.’

‘A Message needs to be sent. If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe,’ she said.

Biles also testified about the toll the abuse had taken on her including most recently in the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer, where she pulled out of five final events for mental health reasons.  

She told the committee how the delay to the Games due to COVID-19 meant she had ‘another 365 days’ of training in the gym and being reminded of the abuse. 

‘As the lone competitor in the recent Tokyo games who was a survivor of this horror, I can assure you that the impacts of this man’s abuse are not ever over or forgotten,’ she said.

‘This meant I would be going to the gym, to training, to therapy, living daily among the reminders of this story for another 365 days.’

The athlete said she felt the ‘burden’ most when she traveled to Tokyo without the support of her family amid COVID-19 restrictions.    

McKayley Maroney reveals FBI agents asked her if Larry Nassar ‘helped me’ when he molested her the first time she met the doctor and asked ‘is that all?’ as she broke down in tears during three-hour 2015 interview that they failed to document

Maroney testified how she spoke to FBI agents for three hours in the summer of 2015 telling them her ‘entire story of abuse’ but they failed to take action – not reporting it for more than a year and, when they did, they made ‘entirely false claims about what I said.’   

Maroney, who took home gold and silver medals at the 2012 Olympics, said the FBI ‘chose to fabricate’ the narrative to ‘protect a serial child molester and not protect me.’

‘After telling my entire story of abuse to the FBI in the summer of 2015, 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,’ she said.  

‘I was shocked and deeply disappointed at this narrative they chose to fabricate. 

‘They chose to lie about what I said and protect a serial child molester rather than protect not only me but countless others.’ 

She recounted how she had not even confided in her mother at this point but told the agents in ‘extreme detail’ over the phone about multiple incidents of abuse. 

‘I was too sick to go to anyone in person and speaking about the abuse would give me PTSD for days,’ she said, adding that she sat on ‘my bedroom floor for three hours’ speaking on the phone about the abuse. 

‘I disclosed all the molestations in extreme detail,’ she said.   

Maroney testified that the agent asked if Nassar ‘helped me’ when he inserted his fingers into her vagina during their first meeting when she was sent to him with a sports injury.  

‘I told them that the first thing Larry Nassar ever said to me was to change into shorts with no underwear because that would make it easier for him to work on me, and within minutes, he had his fingers in my vagina,’ Maroney said. 

‘The FBI then immediately asked, ‘Did he insert his fingers into your rectum?’ I said, ‘No, he never did.’ They asked if he used gloves. I said, ‘No, he never did.’ 

‘They asked if this treatment ever helped me. I said, ‘No, it never did.’ This treatment was 100 percent abuse and never gave me any relief. 

Maroney described breaking down in tears on the phone as she went into graphic detail about the abuse only for the agents to ‘minimize and disregard’ her experience and ask: ‘is that all?’   

‘I began crying over the phone, and there was just silence. I was so shocked by the agents’ silence and disregard for my trauma and after a minute of silence he just said: is that all?’ she said. 

‘Those words in itself was one of the worst moments of this entire process for me. 

‘To have my abuse be minimized and disregarded by the people who were supposed to protect me, just to feel like my abuse was not enough… but the truth is my abuse was enough and they wanted to cover it up.’ 

Maroney joined Biles in calling for the federal agents responsible for ignoring Nassar’s crimes to be indicted on charges. 

‘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?’ she told lawmakers.

She added that the falsification of her statement on the abuse is ‘an obvious crime’ and questioned by the DOJ was refusing to prosecute the agents involved.  

‘What’s even more upsetting to me is that we know that these FBI agents have committed an obvious crime. They falsified my statement, and that is illegal in itself. Yet no recourse has been taken against them. The Department of Justice refused to prosecute these individuals. Why?’ she said. 

‘Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco couldn’t bring herself to be here today. It’s the Department of Justice’s job to hold them accountable.

‘These individuals clearly violated policies and were negligent in executing their duties, and in doing so, more girls were abused by Larry Nassar for over a year.’

She added: ‘To not indict these agents is a disservice to me and my teammates, a disservice to the system which is built to protect all of us from abuse.’ 

Aly Raisman says it took 14 months for the FBI to contact her for an interview after she reported Larry Nassar’s abuse and then ‘pressured’ her into accepting her abuser’s plea deal

Raisman, who was captain of the 2012 ‘Fierce Five’ women’s women’s Olympic gymnastics team that earned a gold medal, said it ‘disgusts me’ that they are ‘still fighting’ for accountability years later. 

‘We are still fighting for the most basic answers and accountability over six years later,’ she said. 

Raisman said authorities knew of at least six victims in 2015 but continued to serve ‘innocent children up to a pedophile on a platter.’ 

‘In 2015 it was known that at least six national team athletes had been abused by Nassar. There was even one of the athletes that was abused on film,’ she said. 

‘Given our abuser’s unfettered access to children, stopping him should have been a priority.

‘Instead, the following occurred: The FBI failed to interview pertinent parties in a timely manner. 

‘It took over 14 months for the FBI to contact me despite my many requests to be interviewed by them.’ 

When agents finally spoke with her about the abuse, Raisman said they tried to ‘convince me that it wasn’t that bad.’

‘I remember sitting with the FBI agent and him trying to convince me that it wasn’t that bad. It’s taken me years of therapy to realize that my abuse was bad, that it does matter,’ she said. 

As well as the FBI, Raisman said the USAG and USOPC also have a ‘long history of enabling abuse by turning a blind eye – both organizations knew of Nassar’s abuse long before it became public.’ 

Raisman told the committee she also felt ‘pressured by the FBI to consent to Nassar’s plea deal.’ 

The former gymnast called for an independent investigation into the FBI, USAG and the USOPC so that ‘from there, then we will know the answers of who should be held accountable.’  

Larry Nassar’s first accuser Maggie Nichols says FBI ‘betrayed’ victims and she is still waiting for answers six years after reporting the abuse    

Nichols, who was the very first victim to report the abuse suffered at the hands of Nassar, said the FBI took more than a year to contact her after she first reported it and that – six years on from making her first complaint – she is still waiting for ‘answers.’    

She also testified that USA Gymnastics tried to cover up the abuse as well, telling her to ‘keep quiet.’

After I reported my abuse to USA Gymnastics, my family and I were told by their former president, Steve Penny, to keep quiet and not say anything that could hurt the FBI investigation,’ she said.

‘We now know there was no real FBI investigation occurring. While my complaints [were] with the FBI, Larry Nassar continued to abuse women and girls.’

She added: ‘For many hundreds of survivors of Larry Nassar, this hearing is one of our last opportunities to get justice.’  

Biles, Raisman, Nichols and Maroney sat side by side during the panel as they gave their testimony to the committee. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin told the four women ‘you were all gold medalists today in the pursuit of justice.’

He had introduced the four star athletes at the start of the hearing saying they are ‘star athletes… and they are also survivors.’ 

Durbin said at the start of the hearing that the FBI’s failures in protecting athletes ‘shock the conscience’, as he noted the inspector general’s findings ‘paint a shocking picture of FBI dereliction of duty and gross incompetence.’ 

‘It shocks the conscience when those failures come from law enforcement itself,’ Durbin said.

‘Our focus today is on the FBI, how did it fail, so badly, when it came to Nassar’s victims, and what are FBI leaders doing today to ensure this never happens again.’   

US Senator Jerry Moran asked ‘why was there more than one’ victim of Nassar, ‘more than dozens’ – given that victims reported his crimes to authorities.   

The DOJ Inspector General released its scathing report in July into the FBI’s handling of allegations against Nassar.

It found that two FBI field offices in Indianapolis and Detroit failed to take initial allegations seriously when they were first raised.  

The report condemned William Jay Abbott, the former Special Agent in Charge of the bureau’s Indianapolis field office, and an unnamed supervisory special agent (SSA) for failing to take action when they learned of the alleged abuse.

Abbott was alerted to Nassar’s sickening abuse of young athletes in July 2015. 

USA Gymnastics President and CEO Stephen Penny reported the allegations to the FBI’s Indianapolis field office that month and provided agents with the names of three victims willing to be interviewed.

The report found Abbott disregarded the allegations and did not formally open an investigation.   

Just one witness was interviewed two months later in September 2015 by the SSA, who then failed to formally document the interview for 17 months until February 2017 – well after the FBI had arrested Nassar on charges of possessing sexually explicit images of children in December 2016.

The document was then full of materially false statements, with key information also omitted, the watchdog said.

The SSA was not named in the report but has since been identified as Langeman.  

Abbott also failed to share the allegations with other law enforcement agencies or Michigan State University, it found.  

FBI officials ‘failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and violated multiple FBI policies,’ the report stated.

Nassar’s victims have also accused USA Gymnastics and the US Olympics and Paralympics Committee of covering up his abuse for years.

Nassar was finally arrested in December 2016 and charged with federal child porn offenses and sexual abuse charges in Michigan.

More than 265 alleged victims came forward to say they were sexually abused by Nassar over the last two decades.

The doctor would assault his victims under the guise of medical treatment when he worked for Michigan State and Indiana-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. 

‘Children suffered needlessly because multiple agents in multiple offices at the FBI neglected to share the Nassar allegations with their law enforcement counterparts at state and local agencies,’ ranking Republican Charles Grassley said in prepared remarks ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

‘Disturbingly, the abuse occurred at the hands of someone who was entrusted with their medical treatment and well-being,’ he added.

Horowitz also said that Abbott, who retired from the FBI in 2018, also violated the FBI’s conflict of interest policy by discussing a possible job with the US Olympic Committee while he was involved with the Nassar investigation.

The FBI previously called Abbott’s behavior ‘appalling’ and said the supervisory special agent remains with the FBI but is no longer a supervisor and is ‘not working on any more FBI matters.’

An attorney for Abbott previously said in a statement he is thankful to prosecutors for bringing Nassar to justice.