The United States Olympic Committee has denied any wrongdoing in the cases of sexual assault on McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman.
Both girls filed lawsuits against the organization regarding the abuse they endured while Larry Nassar was their team doctor.
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The U.S.O.C. has responded to those claims by saying that “Nassar was a full-time employee of Michigan State University and working as the USA Gymnastics team doctor. Both of these organizations are separate and independent from the United States Olympic Committee, which neither employed nor controlled Nassar,” as reported by The Blast.
Their rebuttal goes on to say “that a defendant has no duty to protect against the criminal acts of a third party absent a special relationship. Here, the Complaint fails to allege the basis of a special relationship between Plaintiff and USOC.”
Furthermore, the U.S.O.C. argues that “the Complaint fails to allege any of the requisite mental states which range from an intent to aid Nassar (Masha’s Law), an intent to deceive Plaintiff (constructive fraud), or recklessness as to Nassar’s behavior (intentional infliction of emotional distress).”
“In fact, the Complaint expressly states that USOC was not even aware of Nassar’s misconduct until USA Gymnastics terminated its relationship with him and reported him to law enforcement in 2015,” The U.S.O.C. added.
They are seeking to have both cases thrown out.
Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexual crimes he committed against Maroney, Raisman, and many other young girls. Maroney opened up to NBC about what she went through during an April 2018 interview.
“He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics. So you can’t tell people this,” she revealed Nassar said of her. “I actually was like, ‘That makes sense. I don’t want to tell anybody about this.’ I didn’t believe that they would understand.”
She went on to detail the first time she met Nassar when she was only 13 years old. “He told me he was going to do a checkup on me and that was the first day I was abused,” Maroney said, eventually revealing that Nassar molested her “every time” she saw him.
Following the shocking revelations, USA Gymnastics released a statement, applauding Maroney and the other girls for speaking up.
“USA Gymnastics is saddened that her memories of gymnastics are tainted by the despicable crimes of Larry Nassar,” the statement read. “Our athletes, like McKayla, are the heart and soul of USA Gymnastics, and every effort has been made to support our athletes’ development and provide the opportunities for them to achieve their dreams.”
“The powerful voices of the athletes, like McKayla, who shared their experiences of abuse by Nassar impacted us all and will influence our decisions going forward,” the statement continued. “USA Gymnastics is committed to building a culture that empowers and supports our athletes and focuses on our highest priority, the safety and well-being of our athletes. We are doing everything possible to prevent abuse, and we hope everything we do going forward makes this very clear.”
At this time, legal representatives for Maroney and Raisman do not appear to have responded to the United States Olympic Committee’s request to have their lawsuits dismissed.
