Two confidential out-of-court settlements between USA Gymnastics and two gymnasts who allege they were sexually abused by their coach contradict a recent assertion by USA Gymnastics to a U.S. Senate subcommittee that the organization has not used non-disclosure agreements as part of investigations, according to documents obtained by the Southern California News Group.

Then-USA Gymnastics chief executive officer Steve Penny approved six-figure financial settlement agreements with a former U.S. junior national team member and another gymnast in the late 2000s that included non-disclosure agreements.

The NDAs followed a lawsuit filed by the two gymnasts against USA Gymnastics in U.S. District Court and a USA Gymnastics investigation that found a West Coast coach sexually abused the pair from age 12 into their teens.

USA Gymnastics president and CEO Kerry Perry denied USA Gymnastics used NDAs as part of investigations in a Feb. 9 letter to Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate subcommittee investigating the handling of sexual abuse cases by USA Gymnastics, USA Swimming and other national governing bodies sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The Senate subcommittee asked USA Gymnastics: “Is it common practice by USOC and NGBs (national governing bodies) to utilize NDAs during investigations involving their organization?”

“USA Gymnastics has not used NDAs in conjunction with any investigation, but I cannot speak to the use of NDAs by other NGBs,” Perry wrote in response in the Feb. 9 letter. Perry replaced Penny, who was forced to resign last year.

But listed among the “AGREEMENTS” in the out-of-court settlements between USA Gymnastics and the two gymnasts is “Non-Disclosure,” in which each woman “agrees to keep the amount paid and the terms of the Agreement confidential, and not disclose it to anyone other than her immediate family and any accountants or taxing authorities with a need to know.”

SCNG has obtained a copy of the agreement and other documents related to the case and interviewed one of the gymnasts. In addition to not naming the gymnasts, SCNG is not revealing the name of their coach, their club nor the date of the settlement with USA Gymnastics in order to protect the women’s identities.

The former U.S. national team member wants USA Gymnastics to release her and other gymnasts from the NDAs they have with the organization.

“I’m ready to hold them accountable for all this,” she said. “With the NDA, they wanted to shut me up so they could protect their massive cover-up. They had a sham investigation and then tried to cover me up, end of story. USA Gymnastics had no intention doing the right thing.”

USA Gymnastics did not initially respond to a request for comment, but released the following statement to SCNG late Wednesday afternoon:

“USA Gymnastics answered specifically and truthfully in its response to Senators Blumenthal and Moran. USA Gymnastics does not use or require a non-disclosure agreement as part of an investigation. The Senators asked about investigations, not settlements. To clarify the facts, approximately 10 years ago, mutual settlements were separately reached in two publicly filed lawsuits. As you recited, the settlement agreements included routine language that the plaintiffs would not disclose the amount of the settlement or the terms of the agreement beyond family, accountants and taxing authorities. The plaintiffs in these cases are not bound by any other confidentiality restrictions, and their allegations have always been a matter of public record. USA Gymnastics encourages them to speak about their experiences if they so choose to help prevent abuse in the sport.

“USA Gymnastics supports the Congressional and other independent investigations that may shine light on how abuse of the proportion described so courageously by the survivors of Larry Nassar could have gone undetected for so long.”

John Manly, an Irvine attorney who represents many of the survivors of Nassar’s abuse, disputed USA Gymnastics’ characterization of the NDAs.

“USAG’s response to this US Senate Committee inquiry was deceptive and misleading,” Manly said. “Clearly the Senate Committee was asking about NDA’s in the context of child molestation investigations and cases. USAG denied using NDA’s. The truth is USAG used often used them as tool to stop or stall criminal and civil investigations. They silenced their victims by threatening a lawsuit if the victim spoke. They did this in the Nassar Case and apparently many others.

“Incredibly, USA Gymnastics statement in this article concedes it was using “routine language” to silence victims about their molests by USAG coaches. How many child molest cases do you have to settle when they become “routine”? USA Gymnastics demonstrates once again it is dishonorable, dishonest and rotten to its core. Congress and law enforcement need to act to protect children.”

USA Gymnastics is in the midst of a sexual abuse scandal that has captured Congress, the nation and the Olympic movement’s attention. More than 150 former gymnasts and young female athletes have alleged they were sexually abused by former U.S. Olympic and USA Gymnastics women’s national team physician Larry Nassar.

Nassar is currently serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in December. He also pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in two Michigan state cases earlier this year.

More than 100 former gymnasts allege in civil lawsuits that Nassar’s sexual abuse was enabled by a culture of abuse within the sport created by USA Gymnastics, Penny and two other former top executives, and former U.S. national team directors Bela and Martha Karolyi.

Olympic and world champion Jordyn Wieber told SCNG she witnessed a high-profile USA Gymnastics employee being made aware of Nassar’s abuse prior to June 2015. USA Gymnastics has said Penny and other top officials did not become aware of Nassar’s abuse of U.S. national team members until June 2015. Nassar was allowed to retire with disclosing the abuse in September 2015. Nassar’s abuse didn’t become public until a year later.

The Senate subcommittee question about NDAs was prompted by the December revelation that USA Gymnastics reached in December 2016 a confidential out-of-court settlement with an NDA with Olympic champion McKayla Maroney.

Maroney alleges she was sexually abused by Nassar while competing for the U.S. at the Olympic Games and World Championships. The settlement and its NDA may have violated a state law prohibiting confidential settlements in cases involving felony sexual offenses.

In a civil suit filed against USA Gymnastics in December, attorneys for Maroney allege the settlement agreement was designed to protect the reputation of USA Gymnastics and the Karolyis and “for the purpose of silencing a known victim of Nassar.”

USA Gymnastics paid each of the gymnasts $100,000 as part of the late-2000s settlements. The former U.S. junior national team member said her coach began grooming her when she was 11, forced her to perform oral sex when she was 12 and continued to sexually abuse her and her teammate for several years. At one point, the coach had sex with both girls, then 13 or 14, at the same time while his young children slept in the next room, she said.

Although the coach was banned for life by USA Gymnastics, the women were investigated by the organization before it agreed to the out-of-court settlements.

“They interviewed former boyfriends, my ex-husband, every former teammate I ever had, old coaches,” the gymnast said. “They asked sexual, intimate questions. ‘Was I promiscuous?’ They asked my ex-husband, ‘Did she cheat on you?’ It was awful.”