Langeman, who was not immediately available for comment, was not named in the inspector general’s report, but his actions and multiple crucial missteps were carefully described. The report said that Langeman should have known that Nassar’s abuse was probably widespread, but that he did not investigate the case with any urgency.
After Langeman interviewed Maroney — who was just one of the three elite gymnasts who gave U.S.A. Gymnastics details of Nassar’s abuse — the agent did not properly document that interview or open an investigation. In an interview report Langeman filed with the F.B.I. 17 months after he spoke to Maroney, who was not named in the report, he included statements she did not make, according to the report.
Like other agents initially involved in the case, Langeman did not alert local or state officials about the allegations of abuse by Nassar, violating F.B.I. policy that says crimes against children “invariably require a broad, multijurisdictional, and multidisciplinary approach.”
Langeman later said he had filed an initial report about Nassar, asking for the case to be transferred to the F.B.I.’s Lansing office. But the paperwork wasn’t found in the F.B.I. database, the inspector general’s report said.
W. Jay Abbott, a former special agent in the Indianapolis office, also is no longer with the F.B.I., after voluntarily retiring in 2018. The report said he had made false statements to Justice Department investigators and “violated F.B.I. policy and exercised extremely poor judgment under federal ethics rules.”
According to the report, Abbott had been angling for a job with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, which he discussed with Steve Penny, who was then the president of U.S.A. Gymnastics. Several senators expressed surprise and disgust that Abbott was able to leave the F.B.I. without being disciplined.
Hundreds of girls and women who were abused by Nassar have been waiting for years to hear from the F.B.I. about the mistakes in the case. Biles has been vocal about wanting to know “who knew what, and when” about Nassar. She said the effects from his abuse linger. She won a silver medal and a bronze this summer at the Tokyo Olympics after dropping out of the team competition, saying she was struggling mentally.
