The FBI improved its handling of child sex abuse cases in the wake of its failings with disgraced Dr. Larry Nassar, but the bureau is still falling short in some areas, according to an inspector general report published Thursday.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office conducted an audit of hundreds of FBI cases that involved an alleged “hands-on sex offense against a child” and found that “further improvements are needed.”
In a striking condemnation of the FBI’s handling of alleged crimes against children, the audit found that 42 of the 327 cases it reviewed needed immediate attention from the FBI.
The FBI’s inaction in these cases involved “a lack of recent investigative activity, lack of logical investigative steps, not reporting suspected child abuse to appropriate agencies, leads that were not appropriately covered, and instances of substantial non-compliance with FBI policies,” the audit report said.
The audit covered the period from October 2021 to February 2023, during which the FBI opened nearly 4,000 cases that involved alleged sex crimes against minors that included physical contact of a sexual nature.
The audit report detailed numerous “significant deficiencies” on the FBI’s part, including an open case that showed seven months of inaction. The bureau opened the case at the end of 2021 after receiving a report that a registered sex offender engaged in sexual activity with a minor and that the suspect “may have enticed other minor victims.”
When the inspector general brought the case to the attention of the FBI, only then did the bureau interview the victim, the audit found. The victim, at that point, “provided additional incriminating evidence against the subject” that led to an indictment.
The suspect was indicted in June 2023 on federal charges of producing child pornography, possessing child pornography, and “a felony offense involving a minor committed by a sex offender.” Before the suspect was indicted but after the FBI’s case was opened, he was able to victimize “at least one additional minor for a 15-month period,” the audit found.
The report comes after a scathing inspector general report in 2021 found the FBI Indianapolis Field Office made “fundamental errors” in the case of Nassar, a sports doctor who treated female Olympic gymnasts before he was sent to prison for life for molesting dozens of young female athletes.
Nassar allegedly assaulted at least 70 athletes between July 2015, when the FBI first received a report about him, and November 2016, when he was initially arrested.
Nassar later pleaded guilty to federal charges of possession of child pornography and state charges of criminal sexual conduct, and he admitted to using his role as a doctor to assault or molest more than a hundred teenagers and young women.
Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, in addition to more than 100 of Nassar’s other victims, sued the government over the FBI’s failures, and in April, the DOJ reached a $138.7 million settlement with them.
The audit report published Thursday said although some shortcomings persist, the FBI has, since the time of Nassar’s arrest, updated its policies, training activity, and systems to handle allegations of sex abuse against children better.
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In response to the findings that the FBI still needed to take several steps to respond more swiftly to such cases and better communicate with local law enforcement, the bureau said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner that it planned to maintain “the public’s trust by implementing the necessary improvements.”
“The FBI’s efforts combating crimes against children are among the most critical and demanding undertakings we do,” the bureau said. “The FBI deeply values the trust the public places in us to protect the most vulnerable members of society.”
