usa gymnastics offers a 425million settlement to 500 victims of pedophile doctor larry nassar but doesn't have enough money to pay
USA Gymnastics has offered to pay victims of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar a $425million joint settlement, but it's unclear where the organization will find the cash with some of its insurers failing to sign on the proposed settlement.
Nassar is in prison for the sexual assault of hundreds of gymnastics, including Olympic champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University have both been admonished by his victims for failing to act when he was first reported for abuse, and in some cases covering up his abhorrent acts.
A lawsuit leveled by a class of 500 of his victims has been resolved with a proposed settlement of $425million - $1.1million per victim not including any legal fees incurred.
The proposed agreement would prevent the victims from seeking any further legal action against USOPC, USA Gymnastics and Bela and Martha Karolyi, who ran the Karolyi ranch, a training ground in Texas where much of the abuse took place.
But it's unclear how the organization is going to find the cash to pay the sum when insurers have not yet agreed to pay it.
USA Gymnastics has proposed a settlement of $425million to 500 of pedophile Larry Nassar's victims. Nassar, shown above in 2018, was sentenced to life behind bars for his egregious sexual assault of hundreds of girls, including Olympic champions
Nassar's victims include Olympians Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. Their attorney said they welcomed the news of the proposed settlement but that it hadn't been finalized
In an interview published on Tuesday, Michaela Maroney said she thought Nassar was going to kill her
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is appealing to insurers now to agree to pay it.
'Under the new plan, the USOPC will contribute substantially to the compensation of the survivors.
'There are, unfortunately, some insurance carriers that continue to withhold support for this plan, and we urge these carriers – in the strongest terms – to join the rest of the parties in supporting the plan’s fair resolution for the victims and survivors of abuse,' the Committee told USA Today, which first reported on the settlement on Tuesday night.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it believes the settlement will be finalized later this year.
'After extensive discussions, this plan has been jointly proposed by USA Gymnastics and the Committee, and it is supported by many of the involved insurers.
'We anticipate that this plan will be confirmed later this year and greatly appreciate all parties’ efforts to get to this point.'
The proposed settlement came on the same day Maroney's interview about Nassar, where she said she thought he was going to kill her in one of their sessions, was published by ELLE.
The proposed agreement would prevent the victims from seeking any further legal action against USOPC, USA Gymnastics and Bela and Martha Karolyi, who ran the Karolyi ranch, a training ground in Texas where much of the abuse took place. Martha is pictured with Simone Biles
After he molested her, Maroney said he told her: '"You know, to be a great athlete, we sometimes have to do things that other people wouldn’t do."
'Basically, he was silencing me and saying, "This is what it takes to be great."'
Maroney said she would try tightening her legs and begging Nassar to work on other parts of her body to avoid the abuse when she had to meet with him.
'We would be like, "No, don’t do that. We just want you to work on our backs, our shins, our feet,"' she recalled. "And we’d be annoyed. We’d be mad. We all hated it.'
In January 2020, USA Gymnastics proposed a settlement of $215 million which was widely panned by the victims.
Michigan State University has already paid $500million to 443 of Nassar's victims from the school.