Larry Nassar

Former Olympic gymnasts, including gold medalist Simone Biles, are among dozens of assault victims who are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop sports doctor Larry Nassar, lawyers said Wednesday. There's no dispute that FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused of molesting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year. "It is time for the FBI to be held accountable, said Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19. Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claim. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI's response. The Justice Department said in May that it would not pursue criminal charges against former FBI agents who failed to quickly open an investigation. The approximately 90 claimants include Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law .

Nassar already faced a lifetime behind bars for two prior sentences after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting women and girls in his role as a high-profile sports medicine doctor

More than 100 women and girls accused Nassar of a pattern of serial abuse, and have lashed out at top sporting officials for failing to stop him