Blackmun, who voluntarily answered questions for the report, explained he understood the seriousness of the Nassar allegations but because they involved an “insider” - Nassar was well-respected and had worked with USAG for nearly 30 years - the case was “especially sensitive.” When asked about the Nassar case by chief security officer Larry Buendorf, who had received word separately from Penny, Blackmun told Buendorf he was aware of the issue but did not seek further guidance. Blackmun didn’t report the allegations to either the USOC board or anyone on his staff. “That being said, it is a stinging indictment of the highest levels of the leadership of the United States Olympic Committee for their role in the coverup (of) the largest sex-abuse scandal in the history of sports,” Manly said. But a sizable number of Nassar victims - including 180 being represented by attorney John Manly - refused to participate because Manly didn’t believe the report was completely independent of the USOC. More than 100 people were interviewed, including some survivors of sexual abuse. The USOC commissioned the report shortly after the testimony. Nassar is serving decades in prison on charges of child pornography and for molesting young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment many of his accusers testified in heart-wrenching detail at his sentencing hearing in January. “Instead, he acted within an ecosystem that facilitated his criminal acts.” “While Nassar bears ultimate responsibility for his decades-long abuse of girls and young women, he did not operate in a vacuum,” the report says.
The failures led to a 14-month period - July 2015 to September 2016 - during which Nassar, while still employed at Michigan State, continued to molest young women. The report says the USOC, USAG, Michigan State and the FBI all failed to protect athletes. “One thing we’ve learned from this experience is that these types of situations should be escalated,” said Susanne Lyons, a board member who served as acting CEO earlier this year.
One of its conclusions was that neither Ashley nor Scott Blackmun, who resigned in February as CEO of the USOC, elevated concerns about alleged abuse when they first learned of them from USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny in July 2015. The USOC swiftly fired sports performance chief Alan Ashley in the wake of Monday’s release of the 233-page report from the law firm Ropes & Gray.
#Bela and marta karolyi special full#
That delay ultimately gave Nassar more than a full year to abuse athletes after the first allegations surfaced. Olympic Committee to FBI bureaus in three cities to what was essentially an unchecked, rogue operation at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas, nobody stepped in quickly enough to stifle Nassar’s crimes, the report concludes. DENVER - An independent report details a toxic pattern of bureaucratic paralysis among Olympic leaders who reacted slowly, if at all, after they knew Larry Nassar was suspected of molesting young gymnasts.įrom the top office at the U.S.
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