In a sign of just how far-reaching the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal has become, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach opened his initial news conference at the site of the upcoming 2018 Olympic Games Sunday afternoon talking not about winter sports, but about gymnastics.
“The IOC executive board is deeply shocked and saddened by the abuse scandal in the U.S. Gymnastics Federation,” Bach said, reading a declaration of the board that included an expression of “its moral support for the victims and applauded the courage of the victims who gave testimony.”
The IOC board also “welcomed the creation of a fund by the USOC (the U.S. Olympic Committee) for the victims for counseling and treatment” and “took note of the ongoing independent investigation and hopes that this will also give clarity to the responsibilities of the different parties.
But when pressed about having allowed Nassar to attend multiple Olympic Games as a team doctor, Bach immediately deflected any criticism of the IOC to the USOC.
“I think this is first of all a question you have to ask to the USOC,” Bach said. “The IOC is not nominating the members of the U.S. Olympic team. This is the prerogative of the national Olympic committee.”
As the number of victims in the scandal grew to 265 last week, the fallout continued with a New York Times report that an FBI inquiry into allegations Nassar molested three elite teenage gymnasts moved so slowly that at least 40 girls and women say they were molested by Nassar from the time the FBI started its investigation in July 2015 until he was exposed in an Indianapolis Star investigation in September 2016.
The mother of gymnast Maggie Nichols, Gina Nichols, said her daughter was not contacted for 11 months after she spoke to the FBI, the Times reported.
According to the paper, the FBI did not provide detailed answers to questions about the investigation but said the sexual exploitation of children “is an especially heinous crime,” and that “the safety and well-being of our youth is a top priority for the F.B.I.” The Times also said the FBI claimed many allegations against Nassar “transcended jurisdictions.”
