FBI is still mishandling child sex crimes even after Nassar case, watchdog finds

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog has found continued shortfalls in the FBI’s handling of tips about child sexual abuse despite a series of changes put in place following the bureau’s bungled handling of the Larry Nassar scandal.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office examined 327 cases between October 2021 and late February 2023. It says it found no evidence that FBI employees complied with mandatory reporting requirements to local or state law enforcement in nearly half the cases.

“It’s critically important that the FBI appropriately handle all allegations of hands-on sex offenses against children,” Horowitz said. “Because failure to do so can result in children continuing to be abused and perpetrators abusing more children.”

In one of the cases examined in the audit, the inspector general’s office found that a registered sex offender allegedly victimized a minor for a 15-month period after the FBI initially became aware of the abuse allegations.

In its response to the audit, the FBI said in a letter to the IG that it takes seriously the “significant compliance issues” outlined in the report, and will “continue to work urgently to correct them.”

The latest inquiry follows the inspector general’s examination of how the FBI handled sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the longtime USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused gymnasts—including members of the U.S. women’s national team-—for years.

FBI had vowed to change

In that case, the FBI took few steps to act on tips that Nassar abused young gymnasts, and also failed to share information with other FBI offices or state and local authorities.

In the wake of the Nassar scandal, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau's failed to protect the