Larry Nassar Scandal Shows How the ‘Twisties’ Can Take Different Forms
But a new day of reckoning may be upon us, thanks in part to the women who courageously came forward to report Nassar’s abuses. Maroney’s allegations appear to be supported by a July report from the Department of Justice’s inspector general that details failures of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office in its response to allegations against Nassar.
Michael Langeman, the agent who interviewed Maroney, was fired a week before the hearing, according to news reports, and his former boss, Jay Abbott, retired in 2018.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who became director after the Nassar case was bungled, apologized for the “totally unacceptable” failures in his agency. That’s good, for starters.
But more questions need to be asked about the failures of what Biles called “the system” that failed to protect the girls and young women who, along with their parents, trusted it.
The gymnasts said they felt particularly pained by the knowledge that so many other girls and young women were encouraged to follow their path into gymnastics, only to be betrayed.
Yes, it’s not only gymnasts who get the “twisties.” Sometimes the people we trust to look out for their interests can be “more than a little bit lost in the air” too.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
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