After nearly five years of legal battles, USA Gymnastics and the survivors of Larry Nassar's abuse agreed to a $380 million settlement Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Money really can’t compensate for what occurred here, but it’s what the legal system can offer,” USA Gymnastics lawyer Catherine Steege said during the hearing, via the WSJ.
Nassar, 58, is serving a de facto life sentence without the possibility of parole after receiving three consecutive sentences of at least 40 years in 2017 and 2018. More than 500 women abused by Nassar -- which included Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney -- will receive a share of the settlement, according to USA Today.
Rachael Denhollander, who was the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse back in 2016, celebrated the settlement on Twitter.
I am proud of the nonmonetary reform commitments in particular - this represents so much hard work from members of the committee and I am eager to see these changes through.
— Rachael Denhollander (@R_Denhollander) December 13, 2021
USA Today reported that the settlement will also "end efforts by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic to strip the federation of its position as the national sports governing body." The U.S. Olympic Committee first moved to decertify USA Gymnastics as a governing body in November 2018.
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