Disgraced former U.S. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar is currently serving up to 175 years in prison for sexual abuse and assaults upon hundreds of girls and women placed in his care. But as Simone Biles told Congress: “The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us.”
Biles was one of four U.S. gymnasts—including former Olympians Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, and former NCAA gymnast Maggie Nichols—who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, accusing the FBI of mishandling the case and failing to immediately act in response to allegations of misconduct by Nassar, therefore not bringing him to justice sooner.
“It was like serving innocent children up to a pedophile on a silver platter,” Raisman testified, according to the Washington Post.
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As The Root reported Tuesday, “Biles was one of several athletes who expressed concerns about Nassar to USA Gymnastics officials in June 2015. Allegedly, the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office ignored the concerns and intentionally left Biles’ name out of the investigations.” As we previously reported, this was despite the champion gymnast also self-identifying as a survivor in a 2018 public statement which read in part:
“I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar…I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams. I am not afraid to tell my story anymore.”
