Blumenthal Statement on DOJ IG Report on FBI Mishandling of Child Sexual Abuse Cases

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) issued the following statement in response to a new report released today by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ IG) detailing significant failures by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the handling reports of child sexual assault and abuse. The report released today was conducted following an earlier inquiry by the DOJ IG into the FBI's failure to act on reports it received about Larry Nassar's abuse of athletes.

"I am disgusted and appalled by the FBI's ongoing, systematic mishandling of sexual assault and abuse cases against children. Based on this report's stunning findings, there may be hundreds of sexual abuse cases that have been mishandled by the FBI requiring immediate intervention," Blumenthal said.

"Congress must hold the FBI accountable. I hope for a hearing in September that will include FBI and DOJ leaders providing a plan for corrective action. As a start, the FBI must reprioritize resources to properly investigate and prosecute sexual abuse against children. I will seek prompt, regular updates."

"Incredibly and outrageously, three years after the Nassar report we are again asking how many children have suffered unspeakable pain and harm because the FBI has failed to do its job. Three years after Director Wray's promises to me and others that the FBI would do better, this report shows the opposite. It continues to fail the most vulnerable victims of heinous crime."

Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), authors of the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athlete Act, repeatedly pressed the DOJ IG to investigate and report on the FBI's handling of the Nassar case after uncovering evidence of misconduct during their eighteen-month investigation into systemic abuse within the U.S. Olympic movement. The joint investigation was launched the day after Larry Nassar was sentenced to prison and included four subcommittee hearings, interviews with Olympic athletes and survivors, and the retrieval of over 70,000 pages of documents.

In 2020, Congress approved Blumenthal and Moran's sweeping Olympic reform legislation to reform the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in the wake of abuse allegations that touched nearly all corners of Olympic sport.

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