Today former Upper Peninsula priest Gary Jacobs was sentenced to 8 to 15 years in prison in a second child sexual abuse case for crimes he committed in 1984. https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/07/former-up-priest-sentenced-to-8-15-years-in-2nd-child-sex-abuse-case.html. I specifically direct you to that article because it contains links to the victim impact statements. I consider this required reading, especially for the minimizers in the crowd.
Jacobs was sentenced in May to a term of 8 to 15 years in a different Michigan county for sexually abusing children from 1981 to 1984. Sadly, the sentences will run concurrently. (Don’t give me that “but he’s an old man!” nonsense. He got decades of free passes.) It is impressive that the AG went after this former priest in two different counties. He is where he belongs. Behind bars.
Also today, a long-awaited report issued from the Justice Department Inspector General which revealed gross failures by the FBI during the sex abuse investigation into former MSU and USA Gymnastics Dr. Larry Nassar.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20996344-21-093
Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault of patients and possession of child pornography. This scathing report followed the insistence of victims that the FBI be investigated for having ignored their allegations against Nassar in 2015, with the result that many more athletes and patients were victimized. In fact:
The report noted that according to civil court filings, about 70 women and girls were victimized by Nassar between the time when the FBI was first told of the allegations, and when Michigan officials arrested him on the basis of separate information.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-nassar-investigation-failures/2021/07/14/ebc37274-e4c4-11eb-8aa5-5662858b696e_story.html?utm_campaign=ext_rweb&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=extension
This report found the FBI dragged its feet in probing these sexual abuse allegations and it bluntly accused two FBI officials of lying to cover up “numerous and fundamental errors” that allowed the abuse to continue for months. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-watchdog-release-report-into-fbi-probe-ex-usa-gymnastics-doctor-2021-07-14/. They lied to cover up their errors. They made shit up to cover their tracks. The FBI conducted no investigative activity for more than eight months following a September 2015 interview with a victim. USA Gymnastics had contacted the Indianapolis office of the FBI concerning Nassar prior to that in July 2015. It then failed to take any serious investigative steps and Nassar continued to sexually assault patients until his arrest more that a year later on separate charges. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-07-14/justice-department-inspector-general-nassar-investigation?_amp=true. You have to read this to believe it. It’s really bad.
The report has been called “mind-boggling” and “chilling.” https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/absolutely-chilling-senators-push-for-criminal-charges-accountability-after-dojs-nassar-report/article_2cc6dc77-ab44-53b4-b831-fab2bec72ef2.html . Two U.S. senators who championed Olympic reform legislation last year are now pushing for Congressional hearings on the details in the report. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) said they want to press the FBI on how it will make sure similar allegations are not mishandled in the future, and questioned why the DOJ did not pursue criminal charges against some FBI agents, including those in Indianapolis, who made false statements during the Inspector General investigation. Blumenthal said “There has to be some measure of accountability enforced for the failure to properly pursue the investigation by the FBI and indeed the possible cover up that may have occurred.” (Possible??)
No kidding. And you know what? This report found exactly what victims said happened–the FBI blew them off. But it took an IG investigation to prove not only did the agents blow them off; they did not take the allegations seriously, did nothing, and then lied to cover their asses. This was not just two bad apple FBI agents; it involved three separate bureaus. Lid has been blown off. Now let’s see if everyone just stands there slack-jawed or if some serious accountability and serious changes are made in the wake of this report.
I think this report could be multiplied many times over in an investigation into the handling of the OCCK case. So none of this Nassar stuff with the FBI surprises me. It sickens me, but it doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that someone had the balls to back these bureaus and agents against a wall and investigate how this happened.
Where are Michigan’s politicians on any of this? As a reader points out, most are cozy with MSU and/or U of M, and football season is right around the corner.
And speaking of sickening, the detective who investigated the allegations against predator U of M Dr. Robert Anderson is being “reassigned” to road patrol and having his pay cut.
Another good cop getting gaslit. It never fucking ends. What is it with Michigan?