Simone Biles to testify on FBI’s missteps in sexual abuse probe
Olympic medalist gymnast Simone Biles will testify before a US Senate panel on how the FBI bungled its probe into sexual abuse allegations.
The Senate Judiciary Committee said Biles is among several accomplished gymnasts set to testify this week, as the panel looks into how the FBI bungled its investigation into discredited former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
The other athletes who will testify before the panel include McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman.
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Hundreds sexually abused by Nassar
All four gymnasts are among hundreds of people who were sexually abused by Nassar during what he professed were purely routine medical examinations.
Nassar was sentenced to more than 200 years of prison after being found guilty of the abuse allegations.
FBI failed to respond adequately to abuse allegations
The probe comes after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz filed a harshly worded report stating that the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis “failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required."
The investigation began in 2015, and among the FBI blunders enumerated included waiting for five weeks to hold a phone interview with one of the victims that September, and not even bothering to interview other victims at all.
The report asserted that the many errors allowed Nassar to continue with the sexual abuse for months.
The Justice Department Inspector General, along with FBI Director Chris Wray, is also scheduled to testify about the report’s findings.