Inspector General finds FBI failed to act in dozens of child sex abuse cases

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office conducted an audit of hundreds of FBI cases involving an alleged “direct sexual offense against a child” and found that “further improvements are needed.”

In a stunning indictment of the FBI’s handling of alleged crimes against children, the audit found that 42 of the 327 cases it reviewed needed immediate FBI attention.

The FBI’s inaction in these cases involved “a lack of recent investigative activity, failure to take logical investigative steps, failure to report suspected child abuse to appropriate agencies, leads that were not properly covered, and instances of substantial noncompliance with FBI policies,” the audit report states.

The audit covered the period from October 2021 to February 2023, during which the FBI opened nearly 4,000 cases involving alleged sexual crimes against minors that included physical contact of a sexual nature.

The audit report details numerous “significant deficiencies” by the FBI, including an open case that showed seven months of inaction. The agency opened the case in late 2021 after receiving a report that a registered sex offender had engaged in sexual relations with a minor and that the suspect “may have lured other minor victims.”

The audit found that when the inspector general submitted the case to the FBI, the agency only then interviewed the victim. The victim then “provided additional incriminating evidence against the subject” that led to an indictment.

The suspect was indicted in June 2023 on federal charges of production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and “a felony involving a minor committed by a sex offender.” Before the suspect was charged, but after the FBI case was opened, he was able to victimize “at least one additional minor over a 15-month period,” according to the audit.

The report comes after a scathing inspector general report in 2021 found that the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office made “fundamental errors” in the case of Nassar, a sports doctor who treated Olympic gymnasts before being sent to prison for life for sexually abusing dozens of young female athletes.

Nassar allegedly assaulted at least 70 athletes between July 2015, when the FBI first received a report about him, and November 2016, when he was initially arrested.

Nassar later pleaded guilty to federal charges of possession of child pornography and state charges of criminal sexual conduct, and admitted to using his role as a doctor to assault or molest more than 100 teenage girls and young women.

Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, along with more than 100 other Nassar victims, sued the government over the FBI’s failings, and in April, the Justice Department settled with them for $138.7 million.

The audit report released Thursday said that while some deficiencies remain, since Nassar’s arrest the FBI has updated its policies, training activities and systems to better handle allegations of sexual abuse against children.

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In response to the findings that the FBI still needed to take several steps to respond more quickly to such cases and communicate better with local law enforcement, the bureau said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner that planned to maintain “public confidence by implementing necessary improvements.”

“The FBI’s efforts to combat crimes against children are among the most critical and demanding tasks we undertake,” the agency said. “The FBI deeply values ​​the trust the public places in us to protect the most vulnerable members of society.”