Larry Nassar's victims reach $138.7 million settlement over botched FBI probe

The Department of Justice agreed to pay more than $138 million to victims of disgraced sports physician Larry Nassar and apologized for the FBI failing to act on warnings about the convicted sex abuser, officials said Tuesday.

The "FBI failed to conduct an adequate investigation of Nassar’s conduct," Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in announcing the $138.7 million settlement.

“For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” he said.

“These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset. While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing,” Mizer added.

It was reported last week that the Justice Department was expected to pay around $100 million.

The announcement culminated several years of internal probes which concluded that FBI agents in Indianapolis made “fundamental errors” by failing to notify other FBI offices or state or local authorities about Nassar.

A 2021 report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz blasted Indianapolis-based agents, saying officials at that field office "did not take responsibility for their failures" and instead "provided incomplete and inaccurate information to make it appear that they had been diligent in responding to the sexual abuse allegations.”

Tuesday's deal is the latest in a string of civil settlements acknowledging institutional failures when victims first raised red flags about Nassar.

Michigan State University, where Nassar worked, agreed to pay $500 million in 2018 to women and girls who were assaulted by him.

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee reached a $380 million deal with victims in 2021.

The settlement announced on Tuesday will resolve 139 claims made against the FBI, according to the DOJ.

The 60-year-old Nassar is now serving time at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg, where his listed release date is Jan. 30, 2068. It's unlikely the disgraced doctor will ever walk free.

• He pleaded guilty in 2017 to federal charges stemming from his handing of thousands of images of child pornography, leading to his 60-year-prison sentence that he's serving in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
• In 2018, a judge in Ingham Counrt, Michigan, sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting young girls under the guise of treatment. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar at his sentencing: “I just signed your death warrant."
• Also in 2018, a judge in Eaton County sentenced him to 40 to 125 years behind bars on charges connected to his sex abuse of women and girls during supposed medical treatments.

More than 265 patients have said Nassar molested them, including USA Gymnastics national team stars McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Sabrina Vega, Ashton Locklear, Kyla Ross, Simone Biles and Alyssa Baumann.