USAG Paid McKayla Maroney For Silence On Abuse Claims: Report

USA Gymnastics reportedly struck a deal with one of the sport's biggest stars, McKayla Maroney, to keep any mention of abuse allegations against former team doctor Larry Nassar out of the public eye, ESPN reported. USA Gymnastics struck the deal with the Olympic gold-medal winning athlete in late 2016, according to the ESPN report.

The revelation comes in a lawsuit filed by John Manly on behalf of Maroney in Los Angeles Superior County Court on Wednesday. The suit names the United States Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, Nassar and Michigan State University as defendants.

Maroney was paid $1.25 million by USA Gymnastics in late 2016 for her silence, The Wall Street Journal reported. Manly told ESPN that the olympian willingly entered into the agreement but at the time she entered into the agreement, she was emotionally traumatized by the news that Nassar had sexually abused dozens of women. Manly told ESPN the lawsuit is claiming that the USAG and its lawyers violated the law on grounds that confidentiality agreements in child sex abuse cases are unlawful in California.

In November, Nassar pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault. Nassar, 54, admitted to abusing seven girls, mostly under the guise of treatment at his Lansing, Michigan area home and at a campus clinic. He faces similar charges in a neighboring Michigan county and lawsuits filed by more than 125 women and girls. Nassar lost his license to practice medicine in April. He was also sentenced this month to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

Maroney and two other Olympic gymnasts — Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas — have accused Nassar of sexual misconduct.

Per The Wall Street Journal, Maroney's suit alleges that the U.S. Olympic Committee knew in the summer of 2015 that USA Gymnastics was forcing Nassar out because of sexual abuse allegations but did not reveal that information, including in testimony before the U.S. Senate.

Maroney broke her silence in October as scores of women were coming forward to share their accounts of sexual abuse as part of the #MeToo movement. Maroney, now 21, says the abuse began while attending a U.S. National team training camp in Texas. Maroney was 13 at the time and wrote Nassar told her she was receiving "medically necessary treatment he had been performing on patients for over 30 years." Maroney did not detail Nassar's specific actions.

Maroney, who won a team gold and an individual silver on vault as part of the "Fierce Five" U.S. women's team at the 2012 Olympics in London, said Nassar continued to give her "treatment" throughout her career. She described Nassar giving her a sleeping pill while the team traveled to Japan for the 2011 world championships. Maroney says Nassar later visited her in her hotel room after the team arrived in Tokyo, where he molested her yet again.

"I thought I was going to die that night," Maroney wrote.

"People need to understand the courage it took to put out that Twitter post. She not only was exposing her humiliating story, but she was also putting herself at legal risk," Manly told ESPN. He added that chances of a countersuit are remote.

The lawsuit alleges that Nassar abused Maroney for nearly five years. One of the incidents described in a victim impact statement submitted to a federal judge alleges that Nassar drugged Maroney and made her lay nude on a table, straddled her and digitally penetrated her while rubbing his erect penis against her, according to ESPN.

Read the full ESPN story here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo by Jeff Roberson/Associated Press