Larry Nassar victims including Simone Biles reach $380million settlement with USA Gymnastics

Hundreds of female gymnasts who were sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar have reached a record $380million settlement, concluding one of the largest sports molestation cases in history.

The settlement between the victims and USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) was announced on Monday in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

It includes funds to compensate more than 500 gymnasts including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney. The settlement also includes gymnasts of local clubs who saw Nassar for treatment and victims with other abusive coaches who had claims against governing bodies of the sport.

‘No amount of money will ever repair the damage that has been done and what these women have been through,’ said Rachael Denhollander, a member of the Nasser survivors’ committee in settlement negotiations, according to The New York Times.

‘But at some point, the negotiations have to end because these women need help – and they need it right now.’

Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Dantzscher sued USA Gymnastics and the USOPC in 2016, and similar lawsuits followed. By the end of 2018, US Gymnastic had filed for bankruptcy and more allegations mounted against Nassar.

Gymnasts said Nassar abused them while they sought medical treatment. Many of them have since suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and some even attempted to kill themselves. They waited for years for compensation to help pay for mental health treatment, said Denhollander, who was the first Nassar survivor to publicly accuse him in 2016.

In a reversal after arguing it should not be responsible for Nassar’s actions because he was not an Olympic committee employee, USOPC agreed to pay $35million of its own money and provide USA Gymnastics with a roughly $6million loan.

Nassar was sentenced to the equivalent of life in prison in 2018.

Biles, Raisman, Maroney and former national team member Maggie Nichols in September testified before Congress that they felt the FBI ignored Nassar’s abuse. A Department of Justice report in July had highlighted the FBI’s missteps in the case.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.