PALM SPRINGS, Calif. _ The University of Michigan is investigating several "disturbing and very serious" allegations of sexual abuse against a now-deceased member of its physician team, officials confirmed to The Detroit News on Wednesday morning.
The doctor implicated in the reports, Robert E. Anderson, was a former director of the University Health Service and spent several years as a top physician for football teams led by former coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr.
The university said it was first alerted to allegations against Anderson in July 2018, when a former student athlete wrote to Athletic Director Warde Manuel to detail abuse during medical exams by Anderson in the early 1970s.
UM sent out a news release calling for any victims to contact the university. The response to The News came after it asked for comment from UM about Anderson's alleged misconduct, which includes sexual abuse and unneeded or unwanted exams.
He becomes at least the fourth university physician nationwide to be accused of sexual misconduct in just the last few years, and the disclosure comes while UM Provost Martin Philbert remains suspended amid sexual misconduct allegations disclosed in January.
A Palm Springs, California, UM alumnus last August sent school officials an essay he wrote, "My Michigan Me-too Moment, 1971."
In the essay, former Detroit resident Robert Julian Stone accused Anderson of sexually assaulting him nearly 50 years ago.
Stone said he learned from UM officials that the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office was reviewing his case, along with "many other victims" who have lodged similar claims. He also said a UM police detective told him the university became aware of allegations against Anderson years ago, then moved him from his post at UM Student Health Services to become the team physician for UM athletes.
Responding to inquiries from The News about the allegations, UM officials announced Wednesday they were investigating Anderson and had received reports of "sexual misconduct and unnecessary medical exams" from former patients, most of them from the 1970s but at least one from as late as the 1990s. The university said its police department began investigating allegations in July 2018 and hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent inquiry.
"The allegations that were reported are disturbing and very serious," UM President Mark Schlissel said in a statement. "We promptly began a police investigation and cooperated fully with the prosecutor's office."
The university said it would open a hotline for former patients to report abuse allegations against Anderson: (866) 990-0111.
Asked Wednesday why the university did not publicly ask victims to come forward until after being contacted by The News, UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said, "The university took this action based on receipt of an initial review by the external law firm and the prosecutor's decision Tuesday" not to file criminal charges.
Stone, who earned bachelor's and master's degrees from UM during the 1970s, composed an account last summer of the assault that he says occurred when he went for a medical exam in June 1971 with Anderson, who was then head of the UM Student Health Service.
After Stone sent his written account to two top UM officials, he spoke with university police and filed a report alleging that Anderson dropped his pants during a medical exam, grabbed Stone's hand and used it to fondle the doctor's genitals.
Anderson died in 2008.
Outside the university, a woman filed a lawsuit in 1995 against Anderson, saying she felt violated by the doctor during a medical exam she needed for employment. But the case was dismissed.
In emails that Stone shared with The News, UM officials apologized, and another asked if any UM employee had known about his allegations and failed to act.Then, a UM police detective called him to get more information.
Robert Julian Stone accused Anderson of sexually assaulting him nearly 50 years ago. In this video he talks about the circumstances and the last impact. The Detroit News
While at UM, Anderson was known as "Dr. A" and served as the UM Athletic Department team physician. His career, which began in 1968, included working with the football team during 25 bowl games and under four coaches, including the late Schembechler and Carr. He retired from UM in 2003.
