Several U.S. gymnasts, including star Olympians such as Simone Biles, say they're ready to file a $1-billion lawsuit against the FBI for failing to protect them from sports doctor and convicted abuser Larry Nassar.
Nassar will likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars, after he was convicted in 2017 of abusing many girls during his time working with the U.S. gymnastics program.
But some of his victims say it took too long to catch him, and the FBI should've done more when it first learned about what he was doing in 2015.
“The FBI knew that Larry Nassar was a danger to children when his abuse of me was first reported in September of 2015,” gymnast Maggie Nichols said in a statement, per ABC News. "For 421 days they worked with USA Gymnastics and USOPC to hide this information from the public and allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women and girls.
"It is time for the FBI to be held accountable."
Roughly 90 women are prepared to sue the FBI for different amounts, but their lawyers say the total is about $1 billion.
Former Olympic athletes including Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney are part of the lawsuit effort, along with many others who did not get to the Olympic level, the Associated Press reports.
The U.S. Justice Department has already declined to charge FBI agents for their botched investigation of the case.
Hundreds of women and girls have accused Nassar of sexual assault and molestation.
He pleaded guilty to child porn charges in 2017, and was convicted a year later of sexually assaulting minors. He was sentenced to 60 years in the first case and 40 to 175 years in the second case.
The FBI has six months to respond to the athletes' demands or it could become a lawsuit.
Simone Biles & Other Olympians Will Sue The FBI For $1B For Not Catching Their Abuser Sooner
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