Victims of jailed former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar are to receive US$380 million after reaching a settlement with the sports body, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee and their insurers, attorneys said on Monday.
The settlement — one of the largest ever recorded for victims of sex abuse — ends a five-year legal battle that erupted following the abuse scandal that rocked the US Olympic movement.
Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting athletes while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.
Photo: Reuters
Hundreds of women — including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney — have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them over the course of his more than two-decade career.
Monday’s settlement, which includes claims from Biles, Raisman and Maroney, was confirmed during a hearing in a federal bankruptcy court in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The deal means that about US$880 million in settlements have now been reached following an earlier US$500 million settlement from Michigan State University in 2018.
“We prevailed for one simple reason, the courage and tenacity of the survivors,” John Manly, who represents more than 180 women abused by Nassar, said in a statement confirming details of the agreement.
“These brave women relived their abuse publicly, in countless media interviews, so that not one more child will be forced to suffer physical, emotional or sexual abuse in pursuit of their dreams,” Manly said.
Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to go public with allegations against Nassar in 2016, welcomed Monday’s settlement.
“This chapter is finally closed,” Denhollander wrote on Twitter. “Now the hard work of reform and rebuilding can begin. Whether or not justice comes and change is made, depends on what happens next.”
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