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2024-04-29 -Lurid Crime Tales-
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FBI's $139M settlement with Larry Nassar victims breathes life into Epstein accusers lawsuit
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[FoxNews] DOJ agreed to $139M settlement for Nassar's victims, who accused the FBI of failing to investigate the Olympic doctor
The FBI’s $139 million settlement with more than a hundred victims of the disgraced Dr. Larry Nassar could set a precedent that would lift the chances of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers to prevail in a similar lawsuit, experts say.
"I think the Nassar settlement bodes well for the Epstein accusers," said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based trial attorney and former federal prosecutor. "It’s not easy to get damages from the government for its failure to act."
The Justice Department agreed last week to pay $138.7 million to settle 139 claims from victims who accused the FBI of mishandling sexual assault allegations against the disgraced former sports doctor in 2015 and 2016.
"Civil liability against government agencies or employees usually requires an affirmative act such as police brutality or a civil rights violation," Rahmani added. "The fact that the Nassar victims were able to secure a nine-figure settlement means the Epstein plaintiffs will try to follow the same playbook."
In 2022, the Justice Department paid a $127.5 million settlement in lawsuits over the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting.
That is another example that could benefit Epstein’s accusers, according to former FBI agent Nicole Parker, who investigated the aftermath in Parkland.
"It's setting a precedent, as did Parkland, although that was not sexual in nature," she told Fox News Digital. "When the FBI drops the ball on these egregious violent crimes, that’s a problem."
However, she added, part of the blame in the Epstein case falls on federal prosecutors who handed him a virtual slap on the wrist for sex trafficking charges in 2008. He spent 13 months in jail, during which he was allowed work-release and allegedly continued to abuse victims.
There are some differences.
Nassar was convicted of his crimes, while Epstein died before going to trial. Despite a series of lawsuits against rich and powerful men in his orbit, only his right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, was criminally convicted. She is appealing.
Nassar worked at Michigan State University and was the team doctor at USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. Several current and former athletes, including Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols, all testified at a 2021 Senate hearing that the FBI failed to act on their complaints against him.
In February, a dozen Jane Does filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging that the FBI failed to properly investigate the financier's sex-trafficking crimes as far back as the 1990s.
"Jeffrey Epstein’s penchant for teenage girls was an open secret in the high society of Palm Beach, Florida and the Upper East Side of Manhattan which was disregarded by the FBI," reads the lawsuit on behalf of 12 Jane Does.
"Epstein orchestrated an illegal sex trafficking ring for the elite and the FBI failed to adequately investigate the abuse, failed to interview the victims, failed to investigate the crimes and did not follow routine procedure or offer victim assistance notwithstanding credible reports and tips."
Allegations of child sex trafficking emerged as early as 1996, according to the lawsuit, when Epstein accuser Maria Farmer told New York City police and the FBI that she and her sister had been victims of Epstein and Maxwell. However, the FBI allegedly "'hung up' on her and did nothing to investigate the report," according to the lawsuit.
Allegations continued to crop up until Epstein was arrested for having sex with a child prostitute in 2005. Even his bank, JPMorgan Chase, alerted the government of "suspicious transactions" around this time. However, that information remained secret for almost 20 years, according to the lawsuit.
"The FBI’s repeated and continued failures, delays and inaction allowed Epstein and others to continue their sex trafficking conspiracy for almost 25 years," lawyers for the Does allege.
The FBI has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
"We are pleased that the FBI did right by the Nassar victims, but here, the FBI continues to cover up and refuses to accept responsibility to the sexual abuse survivors of Jeffrey Epstein even though Christopher Wray was ordered to do so by the Senate Judiciary Committee," said Jordan Merson, one of the attorneys for Epstein’s accusers.
Merson added that while the suit was initially filed on behalf of a dozen women, his firm now represents 30 of them.
Epstein died in a federal jail cell in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on additional sex-trafficking charges. His death was officially ruled a suicide. His family and some experts say the evidence does not add up.
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Posted by Skidmark 2024-04-29 06:29||
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