Inspector general: Indianapolis FBI seriously mishandled Nassar sexual-abuse case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A scathing new report released Wednesday afternoon blasts the FBI’s Indianapolis office for how it handled allegations of sexual abuse against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
The 119-page report, issued by the FBI inspector general is full of damning allegations about how the Indianapolis FBI office mishandled the first reports that Nassar was abusing young gymnasts and mishandled the investigation that followed.
The inspector general says senior officials in the Indianapolis office “failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency they deserved and required.”
The report also accuses the Indianapolis FBI office of numerous, fundamental errors once it did respond, including violations of multiple FBI policies. The report says the FBI failed to notify state and local authorities of sexual abuse allegations, and, once the Nassar allegations became public, the inspector general says FBI officials in Indianapolis did not take responsibility for their failures and provided incomplete and inaccurate information in an FBI internal investigation, trying to make it appear they had diligently worked on the case.
Nassar is now serving what amounts to a sentence of life in prison. He admitted in open court to sexually abusing hundreds of girls and young women while serving as their doctor. He was the team doctor for Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics.
The FBI released a statement saying the missteps in this case are “inexcusable and a discredit to this organization.”
Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer who was the first woman to make a public accusation against Nassar, told News 8, “I don’t know what accountability there is going to be for these bad actors. Sovereign immunity laws mean that law enforcement can’t be held accountable for these dozens of little girls who were molested after they knew exactly what was going on. So, the accountability does not accompany the answers and that’s a problem we deal with continually. There is no accountability for bad actors in our law enforcement.”
