In what has made for emotional viewing, elite US gymnasts are testifying before the Senate about the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of the disgraced former team doctor, Larry Nassar.
On Tuesday, Simone Biles, and her fellow gymnasts, came forward in front of the committee to testify over the FBI's failed 2015 investigation into the case. In a searing address, the five-time world champion spoke about how gymnastics officials turned a "blind eye" to the abuse.
The 24-year-old broke down in tears as she recounted how she was sexually abused by Nassar, who is effectively serving a life sentence in prison after abusing dozens of athletes.
Biles, the world's most decorated Olympic gymnast in history, said: "I blame Larry Nasser, and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated [sic] his abuse. If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe."
Three other gymnasts, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols corroborated that they had "suffered and continue to suffer" in light of the abuse, and how it was handled by authorities.
This comes after a long-anticipated July report into the FBI's investigation that discovered a maelstrom of mistakes, delays and coverups — all of which allowed Nassar's abuse to continue.
Here, we break down the timeline of events leading to Nassar's conviction in 2018.
2014 — The first complaint against Nassar
Amanda Thomashow was the first woman to file an official Title IX complaint against Nassar, telling Michigan State University officials that he had touched her inappropriately during a medical examination.
The university conducted an investigation that resulted in no charges against Nassar, with it being ruled that his behaviour was "medically appropriate," and "did not violate the sexual harassment policy."
2015 — The FBI begin investigating Nassar
The FBI's investigation into the disgraced doctor began after USA gymnastics president and CEO Stephen Penny reported allegations made by Maggie Nichols to the FBI's Indianapolis field office.
He also provided agents with the names of three victims who were willing to speak.
Nichols, who was only referred to as Athlete A for some time, was reportedly first sexually abused by Nassar when she was 15-years-old. She said that Nassar had touched her inappropriately during a physical exam at a training ranch in Texas, and had assaulted her on a number of other occasions.
"There was no one else in the room and I accepted what he was doing because I was told by adults that he was the best doctor and he could help relieve my pain," Nichols said in a statement.
"He did this 'treatment' on me, on numerous occasions. Not only was Larry Nassar my doctor, I thought he was my friend. He contacted me on Facebook complimenting me and telling me how beautiful I looked on numerous occasions.
"But I was only 15 and I just thought he was trying to be nice to me."
August 2016 — The story breaks
The Indianapolis Star broke the first of its investigative reports chronicling the allegations against Nassar.
In the first article, which was titled, 'A blind eye to sex abuse: How USA Gymnastics failed to report cases', the journalist involved reported that USA Gymnastics had complaints against more than 50 coaches on file — many of which had not involved law enforcement.
August 2016 — A criminal complaint
In August of 2016, Rachael Denhollander — from Louisville, Kentucky, filed a criminal complaint against Nassar with Michigan State University Police.
She claimed that aged 15, in 2000, she was sexually abused by Nassar during treatments for lower back pain.
August 2016 — Nassar is forced to step back
Michigan State University relieved Nassar of clinical and patient duties in light of the investigation on August 30th, 2016.
September 2016 — Rachael Denhollander is named publically
In another article, The Indianapolis Star interviewed two former gymnasts who alleged that Nassar had sexually abused them as children.
One was Rachael Denhollander, and the other was later identified as Jamie Dantzscher — who was a member of the 2000 Olympics team, and later filed a civil lawsuit against Nassar.
With the publication of the article, Denhollander became the first woman to be named publicly as an accuser against Nassar.
September 2016 — Nassar is fired
On September 20th, Nassar was fired from his role at Michigan State University.
A statement detailed that he had been terminated after the institution had found that he had violated "certain employment requirements."
November 2016 — Nassar is charged
Nassar was charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, including one with a person under 13, in Ingham County, Michigan.
He pleaded not guilty, and was freed on a $1 million bond. However, Michigan's attorney general stated that the matter was "just the tip of the iceberg", as law enforcement disclosed that 50 individuals had made allegations of sexual abuse against him.
If convicted, Nassar would face life in prison.
December 2016 — Nassar is arrested
The 58-year-old was arrested and indicted on federal child sonography charges on December 16th, 2016, on federal child sonography charges.
Per a two-court indictment, Nassar was in possession of "thousands of images of child pornography", between the years 2003 and 2016.
February 2017 — 18 victims file a federal lawsuit
Eighteen victims filed a federal lawsuit against Nassar, as well as Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, and the Twistars USA Gymnastics Club — where many of the alleged assaults took place.
The lawsuit claimed that sexual assault, battery, molestation and harassment occurred between 1996 and 2016. They also alleged that MSU had failed to respond to the allegations made against the former doctor.
Then, Nassar's medical license was suspended by Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
On 19th February, three former gymnasts — Jeanette Antolin, Jessica Howard, and Jamie Dantzscher — spoke about the allegations publically in an interview with 60 Minutes.
Each woman claimed that they had been sexually abused, and that an "emotionally abusive environment" at the national team's Texas training campus had allowed such an atmosphere to fester.
Summer - winter 2017 — Nassar pleads guilty
On July 11th, Nassar pleaded guilty to three child pornography charges.
Subsequently, on November 22nd, in Ingham County, Michigan, Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
In December, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on the child pornography charges, which stemmed from over 37,000 pictures of child porn that was found on his computer.
January 2018 — Women deliver their statements
During a historic hearing in Ingham County, Michigan, 156 women gave victim-impact statements over the course of the seven-day hearing where they shared intimate details of the abuse they suffered at the hands of Nassar.
On January 24th, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison. "I just signed your death warrant," she said.
That same day, Lou Anna K. Simon, the president of Michigan State Univesity, succumbed to mounting pressure and resigned from her post.
Her resignation letter stated: "To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment."
Nassar's hearing in Eaton County began on January 31st. He pleaded guilty to three charges of criminal sexual conduct. Two of the charges were against girls between the ages of 13 and 15, and one against a girl younger than 13.
More than 60 women and girls appeared in court over the course of several days to share their victim impact statement, bringing the number of victims who had come forward to 265.
February 2018 — Nassar is sentenced again
At the conclusion of the Eaton County hearing, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 125 years in prison. This was to be served concurrently with the Ingham County sentence, following the child pornography sentence.
Speaking at the trial, Cunnigham said that his abuse "impacted women, children and families of varying ages, races and walks of life. Individuals that have suffered physical and emotional harm as a result of your actions live all over the country and the world."
In a statement, Nassar issued an apology, and said the victims' words had "impacted me to my innermost core", adding that "it pales in comparison to the pain, trauma and emotions that you all feel."
May 2018 — Michigan State University reaches a settlement
On May 16th, Michigan State University reached a $500 million settlement with 332 of the 58-year-old's victims.
August 2018 — A judge denies Nassar's appeal
Nassar's appeal of his 60-year sentence on child pornography charges was denied on August 22nd, 2018.
October 2018 — Penny is arrested
Former USA Gymnastics president and CEO Stephen Penny was arrested after being charged by authorities with tampering with evidence in the Nasser case by calling for the removal of documents with "the purpose of impairing the ongoing investigation by destroying or hiding" them.
June 2020 — Gymnasts rally together
Gymnasts including Biles, Raisman, Dantzscher, and Maroney file a lawsuit, accusing USAG and the US Olympic and Paralympic committee of failing to take action in regards to the Nassar abuse allegations.
September 2021 — An emotional hearing before the Senate
The gymnasts appeared together in front of a Senate hearing on how the FBI handled information regarding the Nassar case.
Aly Raisman — who served as captain of the 2012 and 2016 US Olympic gymnastics team — spoke out against how she was "still fighting for the most basic answers and accountability", six years after she filed her first report against Nassar.
"Over the past few years, it has become painfully clear how a survivor's healing is affected by the handling of their abuse," she testified.
During the hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray corroborated the gymnasts' statements and said that federal investigators made errors the were "totally unacceptable".
"When I received the inspector general's report and saw that the supervisory special agent in Indianapolis had failed to carry out even the most basic parts of the job, I immediately made sure he was no longer performing the functions of a special agent," he said. "And I can now tell you that individual no longer works for the FBI in any capacity."
Wray went on to reveal that the bureau had made 16,000 arrests over the last five years "of people like Mr. Nassar".
He added: "It gives you a sense of just the sheer scale of this kind of abuse in this country. Because I have no doubt that for the 16,000 arrests that we made, lord knows how many other predators that are out there that we didn't get."
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