Gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman went before Congress earlier today to testify about what they say was the FBI’s failures in the handling of former USA Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar’s sexual assault case.
Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting hundreds of girls and women and was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison back in 2018.
“We have been failed, and we deserve answers,” Biles said during her testimony as she fought back tears. “Nassar is where he belongs, but those who enabled him deserve to be held accountable. If they are not, I am convinced that this will continue to happen to others across Olympic sports,” the gold medal winner said.
Each of the women described their experiences within a system that’s failed them.
“Over the past few years, it has become painfully clear how a survivor’s healing is affected by the handling of their abuse, and it disgusts me that we are still fighting for the most basic answers and accountability over six years later,” Raisman said.
“It took over 14 months for the FBI to contact me despite my many requests to be interviewed by them,” she revealed. “I felt pressure by the FBI to consent to Nasser’s plea deal. The agent diminished the significance of my abuse and made me feel my criminal case wasn’t worth pursuing,” she explained.
Raisman later described the delay in the investigation into Nassar as “like serving innocent children up to a pedophile on a silver platter.”
