FBI mishandled child sexual abuse cases: Justice Department report

A new report by a U.S. Department of Justice watchdog accuses the FBI of mishandling some child sexual abuse cases.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released a report titled “Examining the FBI's Handling of Reports of Actual Sexual Offenses Against Children,” which examines the FBI's response to cases of child sexual abuse.

The report focused on the FBI's response to these types of cases following changes made in response to the case against Larry Nassar, a former U.S. gymnastics doctor. Nassar had previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting 10 girls and possessing child pornography, which earned him a 60-year prison sentence in December 2017.

“This audit was designed to follow up on the issues identified in the July 2021 Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on the FBI's handling of the allegations against Lawrence Gerard Nassar (OIG Nassar Report) and to respond to congressional inquiries regarding the FBI's child protection practices,” the report said.

An inspector general review of more than 300 cases from 2021 and 2023 found that the FBI failed to meet its reporting obligations to local law enforcement in about half of the cases. In cases where the FBI did report, it met the Justice Department's 24-hour deadline only 43 percent of the time.

“For this audit, we reviewed the FBI's compliance with policies and laws regarding the handling of allegations of sexual offenses against children, focusing particularly on corrective actions taken since the OIG Nassar report,” the report states. “Our audit uncovered instances in which FBI employees failed to comply with applicable laws or policies (a) regarding mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse, (b) victim support, (c) transferring incidents between field offices, and (d) responding to allegations of active and ongoing child sexual abuse within 24 hours.”

The report describes a case in which the FBI waited more than a year to initiate appropriate investigative action after receiving an allegation of abuse from a registered sex offender. During that time, the offender allegedly abused at least one other person over a 15-month period without the FBI taking action, the report revealed.

In a statement provided to the Associated Press (AP), the FBI said: “Ensuring the safety of children is not just a priority for the FBI; it is a solemn duty that we must fulfill with the highest standards. The FBI's efforts to combat crimes against children are among our most important and challenging missions.”

The report also states that the Office of the Inspector General has informed the FBI of 42 cases in which it identified concerns, but the report contains no indication that the FBI is working to further investigate those specific cases.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.