Abused gymnasts receive £110 million payout settlement

The US Department of Justice is required to pay out a sum of £110 million to surviving victims of Larry Nassar, 60, who was charged with sexually assaulting 265 people in 2016.

Using his position as team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, Nassar exploited and abused hundreds of young women and girls - he also maintained a health clinic at Michigan State University and worked as a team doctor at Holt High School in 1996. While his abuse is thought to have begun in 1997, some account believe it started as early as 1994. Despite this, USA Gymnastics did not take action against Nassar until 2015.

A lawsuit, submitted in 2022, claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ‘mishandled’ allegations of abuse made against Nassar and ‘failed to take them seriously’. Initially, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to evidence tampering and possession of child pornography in 2017 - the following year, he submitted a guilty plea to seven counts of sexual assault, with a further three coming later in 2018 - as things stand, Nassar is now serving a term of 175 years in prison without the chance of parole.

Upon his arrest in 2016, his wife, Stefanie Anderson filed for divorce - this was granted in July of 2017, with her also assuming full custody of their three children. Previously to this, they had been married for 21 years.

Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said [via BBC News]: "For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability.

“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.”