Victims of sex molester and former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar have reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee and their insurers, bringing to a close five years of legal wrangling.
The settlement was confirmed during a hearing in a federal bankruptcy court in Indianapolis Monday.
The legal battle, which involved Olympic stars Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, followed Nassar’s 2017 conviction that led to a 60-year sentence for possessing child sex-abuse material.
In 2018, the disgraced 58-year-old physician, who was the team doctor for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, received a 175-year sentence for sexual molestation. That same year, USA Gymnastic filed for bankruptcy. Several victims blamed the gymnastics organization for failing to protect them against their offender while testifying against Nassar.
Attorney and former gymnast Rachael Denhollander was the first woman to speak out against the former team doctor, whom she accused of abusing her in 2000 when she was a 15-year-old tumbler battling through back pain. She celebrated news of the settlement Monday.
“This chapter is finally closed,” Denhollander tweeted. “Now the hard work of reform and rebuilding can begin. Whether or not justice comes and change is made, depends on what happens next.”
She famously asked a judge during her testimony against Nassar, “How much is a little girl worth?” before asking the court to show no mercy on the disgraced child molester.
The Wall Street Journal reported that TIG Insurance will pay a large amount of the settlement money awarded to victims.
