Congress Passes Bill to Protect Young Athletes from Sexual Abuse 

In the wake of the horrifying abuse revelations about sports doctor Larry Nassar, recently sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting nearly 200 gymnasts, the House of Representatives has passed a law that aims to strengthen protections for young athletes.

ABC News reported:

The House passed a bill that would require amateur athletics organizations to immediately report sex-abuse allegations to law enforcement and strengthen oversight of gymnasiums, amateur sports organizations and coaches. The new mandatory reporting requirement would apply to 46 amateur sports with governing bodies recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee, including gymnastics, figure skating, basketball, football, swimming, and track and field.

The Senate passed the bill, originally proposed by California’s Diane Feinstein and Maine’s Susan Collins, in November. Incredible that protecting young athletes would require additional goddamn laws of the land rather than everybody automatically doing their utmost—unbidden by threat of punishment—to shield children from abusers, but here we are….again.