Justice Department claims FBI continues to neglect child sex abuse cases

The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that the FBI continues to act negligently in its handling of cases of child sexual abuse and sexual assaults. The DOJ took aim at the bureau three years ago for mistakes it made investigating and resolving the case of Larry Nassar, the former U.S. gymnastics team doctor who abused several underage girls in the team's junior ranks.

In a report released Thursday from the DOJ based on an audit, Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported that he analyzed 327 cases of child sexual abuse handled by the FBI, of which 42 contained various deficiencies.

"The types of concerns identified included: (1) cases that lacked any recent investigative activity or case updates, logical investigative steps, or referrals to appropriate agencies, (2) leads that were not appropriately covered, and (3) instances of substantial non-compliance with FBI policy," Horowitz noted in his audit.

"All FBI personnel are considered mandatory reporters, meaning that they must report suspected child abuse to the relevant state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement agency and social services agency. We identified substantial non-compliance with these requirements," the DOJ inspector general added. "Specifically, we found no evidence that FBI employees complied with mandatory reporting requirements to SLTT law enforcement in 47 percent of the incidents we reviewed or to social services agencies in 50 percent of incidents we reviewed. Of the reports that were made, we found that only 43 percent were made within 24 hours, as required by FBI policy."

Examples of the FBI's negligent performance

Horowitz and the DOJ detailed several instances in which the FBI acted negligently and even failed to investigate a case of a minor who continued to be sexually abused.

One unnamed minor was found to have been sexually abused for 15 months without prompt action by the FBI. In a separate incident, a 2-year-old was abused for 21 months, and the bureau failed to investigate even though it had been notified.

The Larry Nassar case

In the audit, the DOJ paid particular attention to the Larry Nassar case. The department noted that, for a year, the sexual predator abused some 70 athletes without the FBI stepping in to act, even though it had already received several complaints.

Nassar was first sentenced in 2017 to 60 years in prison, which was extended to 175 years in January 2018 after he pleaded guilty to more cases of sexual abuse. A month later, he received a new sentence of an additional 40 to 125 years for acknowledging more cases of sexual abuse. The DOJ reached a settlement with the former doctor's 139 victims worth $138 million.