FBI still failing to report all child sex abuse allegations years after Larry Nassar case
WASHINGTON (TND) — An internal government watchdog found the FBI failed to report some allegations of child sex abuse to law enforcement agencies and is not complying with mandatory reporting requirements.
The Department of Justice’s inspector general said in a report released Thursday that it found no evidence the FBI is complying with mandatory reporting requirements in about half the cases that were inspected.
The audit of the FBI’s child sex abuse reporting process comes after the probe of the agency’s handling of former Michigan State University and USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, which have resulted in $1 billion in total settlements for the FBI’s gross mishandling of sexual assault allegations in 2015 and 2016, allowing him to continue preying on victims.
Nassar is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes at Michigan State University and for the USA team, including medal-winning Olympians.
The Justice Department has acknowledged that it failed to act, with agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles failing to take action on allegations against Nassar for more than a year. It instituted new rules about referring those allegations to local authorities but still "needs to improve compliance" with its own policies in multiple areas like mandatory reports, victim services and sharing tips between different FBI field offices.
The government watchdog reviewed more than 300 cases of allegations of sex crimes against children, but there was no evidence the abuse was being reported to appropriate law enforcement in 47% of the cases. Reports were only made within the 24-hour period mandated by the DOJ in 43% of cases.
While that is well below the reporting standards instituted by the DOJ, there has been significant improvement in the amount of cases being reported, going from 108 in 2020 to 565 in 2022.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz noted on particularly bad case of a slipping through the cracks with the FBI failing to act aggressively on a tip that a registered sex offender was sexually abusing a child. There was no evidence the FBI notified local authorities or the person's probation officer and agents became more involved after being asked about it by investigators.
“Subsequently we learned that the subject allegedly victimized at least one additional minor for a 15-month period after the FBI became aware of the allegations,” the report said.
In a letter to Horowitz, FBIExecutive Assistant Director Michael Nordwall said the FBI "take seriously the significant compliance issues outlined in the Audit Report and will continue to work urgently to correct them." Nordwall also said that most of the cases flagged in the inspector general report are about agents documenting the work they have done.
"The FBI took especially seriously the incidents the OIG forwarded during the course of the audit. Most of the incidents the OIG flagged reflected the failure to properly document completed investigative steps or involved investigations where no additional action was necessary. We were able to quickly document the investigative steps already undertaken to bring those files into compliance," Nordwall's letter said.
The FBI said in a statement that it is its "solemn duty" to protect children.
“Ensuring the safety and security of children is not just a priority for the FBI; it is a solemn duty that we are committed to fulfilling with the highest standards. The FBI’s efforts combating crimes against children are among the most critical and demanding undertakings we do,” the FBI said in a statement.
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