USA Gymnastics and the FBI “turned a blind eye” as hundreds of athletes were abused by a team doctor, Simone Biles said during emotional testimony before Congress. McKayla Maroney said the FBI “minimized and disregarded” her when she reported the abuse.
McKayla Maroney, another gold medal winning gymnast, told senators that one night when she was 15 years old, she found the doctor on top of her while she was naked — one of many times she was abused. She said she thought she was going to die that evening.
Biles and Maroney were joined by Aly Raisman, another Olympic gold medalist, and gymnast Maggie Nichols. Raisman said it “disgusts me” that they are still looking for answers six years after the original allegations against Nassar were reported. Biles acknowledged in January 2018 that she was among the hundreds of athletes who were abused by Nassar. She is the only one of the witnesses who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — held this year after a one-year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic — but removed herself from the team finals to focus on her mental health.
Horowitz’s probe was spurred by allegations that the FBI failed to promptly address complaints made in 2015 against Nassar. USA Gymnastics had conducted its own internal investigation and the organization’s then-president, Stephen Penny, reported the allegations to the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis. But it was months before the bureau opened a formal investigation.
The watchdog investigation also found that when the FBI’s Indianapolis field office’s handling of the matter came under scrutiny, officials there did not take any responsibility for the missteps and gave incomplete and inaccurate information to internal FBI inquiries to make it look like they had been diligent in their investigation.
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