(CNN) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has petitioned the Department of Justice to investigate whether the US Olympic Committee intentionally failed to act on reports of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's abuses and whether such a mishandling violated the law.

"These young women have demonstrated great courage by speaking out about the cruelties they have endured. The tragedy of their cases is only compounded by the number of times this predator could have been stopped," Gillibrand wrote in a Saturday letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions , referencing the more than 150 women who have come forward with stories of abuse at the hands of the disgraced doctor.

"These young women and children were failed time and again. I call upon the Department of Justice to investigate the depth of those failures and whether they violated the law," the New York Democrat wrote.

The call for a criminal probe comes in the wake of reports that the US Olympic Committee was alerted to the abuse as early as 2015, but failed to act on the allegations.

"The U.S. Olympic Committee had a moral duty to act when informed of a possible crime," Gillibrand wrote. "Their inaction resulted in the abuse of even more young women and girls."