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Witnesses and victims: In September 2021, Simone Biles (left) and other gymnasts appeared as witnesses in the trial of Larry Nassar in Washington DC
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
The abuse victims in the US gymnastics scandal want to demand more than a billion dollars from the US federal police (FBI).
The AP news agency reported that the agency was to pay compensation for its failure in the Larry Nassar case.
The athletes around world star Simone Biles accuse the FBI of not having acted in 2015 when the first allegations of sexual abuse by the then doctor of the gymnasts at Michigan State University became known.
It is unclear whether a lawsuit has already been filed
In July 2021, the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Justice released a report saying the FBI mishandled evidence of Nassar's wrongdoing.
Accordingly, the officials did not react with the necessary "seriousness and urgency".
"If the FBI had just done their job, Nassar could have been stopped before he ever had a chance to molest hundreds of girls, including me," said Samantha Roy, a former University of Michigan gymnast.
Referring to the Californian law firm Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, which specializes in cases of sexual abuse, around 90 victims are said to be seeking billions.
It was initially unclear whether a lawsuit had already been filed.
Nassar has already been convicted several times
In November 2021, the Nassar victims were awarded $380 million (€337 million) in compensation by an Indianapolis court.
The verdict ended a multi-year legal battle between the US Gymnastics Federation and the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees on the one hand and the victims on the other.
In 2018, Michigan State University pledged $500 million in compensation.
Nassar had taught medicine there and is said to have committed most of the known abuses there.
The investigation only started in 2016.
A total of three sentences were handed down against Nassar, with sentences totaling up to 175 years in prison.
He had pleaded guilty in the proceedings.
see/dpa