DOJ reaches $138M settlement with victims of team doctor Larry Nassar

April 23 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Wednesday said that a civil settlement finally had been reached with the victims of ex-Team USA doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts.

"For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability," Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer, said in a release.

Over the course of nearly two decades ending in 2016, Nassar had sexually abused hundreds of victims under the guise of performing medical treatments. The civil settlement agreements -- approved by DOJ -- now resolve the 139 claims for a total of $138.7 million to be distributed to the victims.

Mizer said the allegations against Nassar "should have been taken seriously from the outset."

"While these settlements won't undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing," Mizer added.

Nassar, now 61, is currently serving a prison term of between 40 and 175 years for multiple cases of sexual assault involving gymnasts at the school, as well as with USA Gymnastics.

Nassar worked for both during an extended career that included treating U.S. Olympic gymnasts at the governing body's training center.

He lost his final appeal in front of the Michigan Supreme Court in June of 2022.

Nassar, a Michigan native was first convicted on seven counts of criminal sexual conduct, a first-degree felony in 2018. He survived a prison stabbing in 2023.

The Justice Department now says that the settlements "will resolve administrative claims against the United States alleging that the FBI failed to conduct an adequate investigation of Nassar's conduct."

In July 2021, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General had issued a report which was critical of certain aspects of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation of Nassar.

"Let this be the first step towards greater accountability for law enforcement failures and unethical conduct," Rachael Denhollander, the first person to accuse Nassar, said last week on X about the possibility of the settlement reached Tuesday.

"It's long overdue," she said.