Nassar victim slams Michigan for response to doctor abuse

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The first woman who publicly accused convicted sports doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse said she is “horrified,” and “deeply disappointed” with the University of Michigan for how it handled allegations of abuse by a late doctor at the school.

The university announced earlier this week five former patients of Dr. Robert E. Anderson alleged he sexually abused them during exams and a complaint in 2018 led to a police investigation.

“They had the choice 19 months ago to do the right thing and become leaders,” former gymnast Rachael Denhollander said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press. “They chose corruption — again — and they put the survivors in a place where they had no choice but to speak publicly.”

Robert Julian Stone said this week Anderson assaulted him during a medical appointment at the university’s health center in 1971. Stone said he alerted university officials last summer, inspired by the national #MeToo movement..

Stone was first interviewed by The Detroit News, which began reporting on the allegations before the university announced its investigation. Stone, 69, said he contacted the newspaper because he felt “stonewalled” by the school when he sought documentation on the investigation.

“Instead of immediately pursuing transparency, and saying `How could this happen on our watch? We are going to make sure this never happens again.‘ They kept it quiet and buried it,” Ms. Denhollander said in a telephone interview. “They forced the survivors to have to speak publicly to get anything to happen. That’s despicable. It’s re-victimizing and re-violating.”