Gymnast sues US Olympic Committee and university over sex-abuse scandal
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney called Larry Nassar a "monster of a human being" in a victim impact statement to Judge Neff. (AP)
Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney filed a lawsuit Wednesday gainst Michigan State University and the U.S. Olympic Committee on Wednesday, alleging that the institutions “failed to properly investigate" the Michigan sports doctor recently convicted of possessing child pornography.
Former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar has pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, admitting that he used his position of authority over young female patients, some younger than 13, for his own sexual gratification, according to ESPN. And he was sentenced on Dec. 7 to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Maroney was paid $1.25 million by USA Gymnastics in 2016 to keep silent on Nassar’s abuse, while she was member of the national gymnastics team and the 2012 Olympic team.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“A simple fact is this,” Maroney said in the lawsuit, obtained by Fox News. “If Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee had paid attention to any of the red flags in Larry Nassar’s behavior, I never would have met him, I never would have been ‘treated’ by him and I never would have been abused by him.”
LARRY NASSAR, GYMNASTICS DOCTOR FOR OLYMPICS AND MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORN
In this Nov. 22 file photo, Dr. Larry Nassar appears in court for a plea hearing in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Maroney’s suit accuses USA Gymnastics of attempting to silence her with a nondisclosure agreement, which, according to the complaint, was done "in direct violation of California Law, and for the purpose of silencing a known victim of Nassar.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawsuit further alleges that “Maroney was forced to agree to a nondisparagement clause and confidentiality provision, in the above-mentioned settlement agreement, that brought with it liquidated damages penalties of over $100,000, should she or other affiliated nonparties speak of her abuse or the settlement.”
Maroney’s attorney, John Manly, called the confidentiality agreement “an immoral and illegal attempt to silence a victim of child sexual abuse.”
He added: “The US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics were well aware that the victim of child sexual abuse in California cannot be forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of a settlement. Such agreements are illegal for very good reasons; they silence victims and allow perpetrators to continue committing their crimes. That is exactly what happened in this case.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RELATED: MICHIGAN STATE ACCUSED OF COVERING UP WORST SEX ABUSE SCANDAL IN U.S. SPORTS
Maroney, a 2012 gold medalist at the London Games, described her alleged abuse in a public statement in October.
“It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first national team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport,” she said. “It seemed whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was “treated.” It happened in London before my team and I won the gold medal, and It happened before I won my silver.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nassar has been accused by more than 140 girls and women – including gold medal gymnasts Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas -- of molesting them by placing his ungloved hand in their vaginas under the guise of medical treatment. His alleged victims were as young as 9 years old.
Nassar admitted in his guilty pleas that these treatments were in fact criminal sexual abuse.
The impacts of the Nassar scandal have been far-reaching.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LARRY NASSAR’S FORMER BOSS, MICHIGAN STATE DEAN WILLIAM STRAMPEL, STEPS DOWN
Within the last week, Nassar’s former boss at MSU, Dean William Strampel of the College of Osteopathic Medicine stepped down, citing health reasons, and the top sponsors of USA Gymnastics, including Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Hershey’s and Under Armour have withdrawn sponsorship support from the organization.
A spokesman for Michigan State said the university would not comment. A request for comment from U.S. Olympics by Fox News was not immediately returned.