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Gymnast sex-abuse victims reach $380M settlement

A total of US$380 million has been agreed in a settlement with the victims of Larry Nassar, the former US Olympic doctor who sexually abused female gymnasts for decades.

USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and their insurers, have agreed to the payment.

"The plan has been overwhelmingly accepted by all parties to this bankruptcy. The court certainly finds that it's feasible," Judge Robyn L Moberly of the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Indiana said yesterday (13 December).

The settlement is part of the gymnastics’ body’s plan to exit bankruptcy as the organisation has struggled to recover from the Nassar scandal.

USA Gymnastics said that the settlement, which also includes actions focused on athlete safety and wellness, will allow it to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of this year. A Nassar abuse survivor will also sit in future on the USA Gymnastics' board of directors.

Trauma

"USA Gymnastics is deeply sorry for the trauma and pain that survivors have endured as a result of this organisation's actions and inactions," Li Li Leung (USAG President and CEO) said in a statement.

This is the second nine-figure settlement for victims of Nassar's abuse. In 2018, Michigan State University agreed to pay US$500 million to settle lawsuits brought by 332 victims.

Nassar is currently serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison on child pornography charges.

He also was sentenced to a 40-to-175-year state prison sentence in Michigan after pleading guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct.

Molest

As part of a plea deal, he admitted to using his trusted medical position to assault and molest girls for two decades.

At his trial, more than 150 women, among them Olympic gold medallists Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, said that he sexually abused them.

Despite reports, systems of authority, including USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and Michigan State University, did not take the athletes’ concerns seriously.