‘It beggars belief’: Project star Chrissie Swan shocked by sex abuse claims

Chrissie Swan and her fellow TV panellists were shocked to hear details about how gymnasts’ sexual assault allegations were treated.

Panellists on The Project were horrified by the testimony of elite American gymnasts who slammed authorities for failing to take action over sexual abuse allegations against team doctor Larry Nassar.

Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols blasted USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee and the FBI in powerful Senate testimony that accused those responsible for protecting them of turning a “blind eye” to what was happening.

Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting women and girls while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University (MSU).

Chrissie Swan was shocked by this week’s revelations from gymnasts about the lack of support after making such serious allegations.

“It beggars belief, the whole story — when I listen to the facts and the sheer amount of allegations and all of those women coming forward, being brave enough to come forward and having nothing done about it … and told to stay quiet,” Swan said.

The Project co-host Carrie Bickmore was also stunned to learn about the amount of time taken for authorities to act after allegations against Nassar were first reported.

USA Gymnastics reported Nassar to the FBI in July 2015, but he continued to work at Michigan State University and sexually abused at least 70 more women until a newspaper exposed him in September 2016.

Biles, Maroney, Raisman and Nichols testified that they were let down by the FBI, the leadership of USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Biles, a seven-time Olympic medallist and the most decorated gymnast in world championships history, was scathing in her testimony.

America's top gymnasts say they were failed by those in charge of protecting them. US Olympic gymnasts (L-R) Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, arrive to testify during a hearing about the FBI’s handling of the Larry Nassar investigation of sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

“We suffered and continue to suffer because no one at the FBI, USAG or USOPC did what was necessary to protect us,” she said.

“To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar but I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.

“Nassar is where he belongs, but those who enabled him deserve to be held accountable. If they are not, I am convinced that this will continue to happen to others across Olympic sports.”

Maroney, who won a team gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, said she reported the abuse by Nassar in a three-hour telephone interview with an FBI agent in 2015 but it was “minimised and disregarded”.

“Not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,” she said.

“They allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year.”

Hundreds of women — including Olympians and collegiate athletes — have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them over the course of his more than two-decade career in sports medicine.

The US Justice Department’s Inspector General published a scathing report in July about the mishandling of the accusations against Nassar by the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis, where USA Gymnastics has its headquarters. FBI agents failed to take the allegations seriously and investigate them right away, the report said.

Larry Nassar will spend the rest of his life in prison. (Photo by Rena Laverty/AFP)

Biles, Maroney, Raisman and Nichols were invited to testify before the Senate committee under oath about the “FBI’s dereliction of duty in the Nassar case”. Raisman, former captain of the Olympic gold medal-winning 2012 and 2016 US teams, said stopping Nassar’s abuse should have been a priority for the FBI but it took over 14 months for the bureau to contact her.

Nichols, who won a gold medal at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, said she reported Nassar’s abuse to USA Gymnastics leadership in 2015.

“I am haunted by the fact that even after I reported my abuse so many women and girls had to suffer at the hands of Larry Nassar,” she said.

“USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee have all betrayed me and those who were abused by Larry Nassar.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray also testified before the Senate panel but in a separate session.

Wray apologised to the gymnasts and others abused by Nassar for the FBI’s mishandling of the investigation.

“In no planet is what happened in this case acceptable,” he said. “I’m sorry so many people let you down over and over again.

“And I am especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. That is inexcusable.”

Wray said the senior agent in Indianapolis who failed to properly investigate Nassar had retired while another agent had been fired.

With AFP