Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles Testifies Before Senate on FBI's Handling of Nassar Abuse Allegations

US Olympic gymnasts testified before Congress on Wednesday, September 15, sharing raw accounts of the years of sexual abuse they endured at the hands of convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician.

The opening statements were part of a Senate Judiciary inquiry into the FBI’s investigation into allegations of Nassar’s sexual abuse. Simone Biles, among others, said the FBI never followed up with her after she reported the abuse.

Biles, who spoke as the first of four gymnasts on Wednesday morning, said, “This is the largest case of sexual abuse in the history of American sport … It truly feels like the FBI turned a blind eye to us.”

Video streamed live by CSPAN captured Biles’s emotional testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children,” Biles said. “It is the power of that statement that compels me to be in front of you today. I don’t want another young gymnast, Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that I and hundreds of others have endured before, during, and continuing to this day in the wake of the Larry Nassar abuse.”

Nassar also worked for Michigan State University as a doctor. He was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison and was accused of sexual abuse by more than 150 women and girls. Credit: CSPAN via Storyful