Even years after the Larry Nassar scandal: FBI still falls short in cases of child sexual abuse

Washington — Even years after the scandal involving the US gymnastics doctor, the FBI's handling of investigations into cases of child sexual abuse remains inadequate in important areas. Larry Nassar This has shaken the office, an internal control body said in a new report published on Thursday.

The Justice Department's inspector general found that while the FBI has updated its policies and training to improve how agents respond to allegations of sexual assault against children, the new rules continue to be out of compliance. The review comes as a result of the Justice Department's investigation into the FBI's mismanagement of allegations by young gymnasts that Nassar sexually abused them.

In 2021, an inspector general report found that the FBI had learned that Nassar had been accused of sexually assaulting gymnasts in 2015 but had taken no action, allowing him to continue to target victims unchecked for months. Nassar is Serving several life sentences after pleading guilty to sexual abuse and child pornography in 2017 and 2018.

In April, the Ministry of Justice agreed to pay $138.7 million to settle 139 lawsuits against the FBI over its handling of the investigation into a civil lawsuit brought by Nassar's victims.

Following the scandal, the FBI implemented new policies and training programs, and FBI leadership promised to overhaul policies. In a speech to Congress in 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned agents' handling of the Nassar allegations so far, saying, “On no planet is what happened in this case acceptable.” In 2022, he again told Congress that the FBI would not make the same mistakes in the future.

In a statement released Thursday, the FBI said: “Ensuring the safety of children is not just a priority for the FBI; it is a solemn duty that we must perform with the highest standards. The FBI's efforts to combat crimes against children are among the most important and challenging missions we perform. The FBI deeply values ​​the public's trust in us to protect the most vulnerable members of society.”

The Inspector General’s report

As part of the new report, federal auditors randomly selected 327 child sexual abuse cases between October 2021 and February 2023 and assessed whether FBI agents and supervisors followed proper protocols to ensure investigations were conducted appropriately.

According to the inspector general, 42 of these cases required immediate investigations due to a lack of activity or failure to report to local authorities as required. The FBI concluded that its agents needed more investigative work in 43 percent of these cases.

The inspector general highlighted an example in which the FBI received allegations of sexual abuse of a child by a registered sex offender but did not initiate an investigation for over a year. During that time, the report said, the offender was able to abuse another child.

The audit also identified deficiencies in FBI agents' reporting of allegations of abuse to local law enforcement and social services within the required 24-hour period.

“We found no evidence that FBI employees followed reporting requirements to [state and local] “In 47 percent of cases, officers contacted law enforcement and in 50 percent, social services,” the report said. And when officers did file a report, officers found that only 43 percent met the 24-hour deadline.

Among the key deficiencies highlighted in the original Nassar report was the failure of the FBI field office in Indianapolis to properly forward the allegations to officials at a field office in California for further investigation.

The inspector general's report on Thursday found that problems persist with field offices' transmission of complaints during investigations. The Justice Department watchdog highlighted 26 cases in which field offices transmitted information on child sexual abuse cases.

“We found only one incident that was fully compliant with the new policy,” said the report that followed the Nassar investigation. While 25 of those cases were classified as deficient due to errors in documentation and 21 were assigned to the receiving office within 24 hours, the report emphasized the need for continued compliance with all measures to ensure proper investigative steps are followed.

“While our review found that since receiving the allegations of child sexual abuse against Nassar, the FBI has implemented training, policy updates, and system changes to improve the way it handles allegations of crimes against children, we identified incidents where we believe the FBI did not respond appropriately to the allegations,” the inspector general said.

As is customary with inspector general reports, the agency made 11 recommendations to the FBI, including developing methods to monitor compliance with reporting requirements and procedures to ensure that all reports of child sexual abuse are responded to within 24 hours.

The FBI has agreed to implement the recommendations and has fully updated procedures at its National Threats Operation Center and field offices for handling allegations of abuse. But much work remains, according to the inspector general's report.

Michael Nordwall, deputy director of the FBI, said in a letter that the FBI had taken the inspector general's findings “particularly seriously,” adding that the bureau was “updating its policies and procedures and strengthening controls to monitor the effectiveness of the improvements.”

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, a senior FBI official acknowledged that mistakes had been made in some cases and said the FBI is working to combat sex crimes against children and improve compliance measures.

In 2023, the FBI investigated 4,900 cases of child sexual abuse, found or rescued about 4,000 victims and prosecuted about 1,500 perpetrators, the official said.

The official added that the increase in child sexual abuse cases the FBI investigates each year presents new challenges that staff are working to address.

The inspector general's report highlighted this problem, describing a case in which a single agent was assigned 60 investigations. “Several FBI officials told us that resources pose a significant challenge,” the report said.

According to the audit, 15 FBI field offices requested changes to their funding to increase the number of agents assigned to child abuse cases in 2023. “Only one of these requests, for one agent, was approved,” the regulator said. “Seven field offices appealed the decision to deny the realignment, but none of these appeals were successful.”

“It is critical that the FBI handles the allegations appropriately,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Thursday. “Failure to do so may result in children continuing to be abused and perpetrators abusing more children.”

John Manly, a lawyer representing many of Nassar's victims, said the report “makes clear that the FBI is simply failing in its job when it comes to protecting our children from the monsters among us who are stalking them.”

“Despite years of promises and numerous congressional hearings, it is now clear that the Larry Nassar scandal could repeat itself today. It is time for Congress to take action to reform the FBI. Our children deserve nothing less,” Manly said.