Abuse victims increasingly turn to media to be heard

Robert Julian Stone was tired of waiting, afraid that complaints of sexual abuse at the hands of a former University of Michigan doctor would be covered up.

So five months after contacting the university to report that he’d been assaulted during a 1971 medical exam – and after learning there were more alleged victims – the 69-year-old Stone turned to The Detroit News.

The newspaper last week was the first to report Stone’s allegations against the late Dr. Robert E. Anderson, triggering similar reports. It was reminiscent of sex abuse scandals at other universities, where the media reported allegations before officials publicly acknowledged complaints against doctors.

A 2016 Indianapolis Star investigation of sexual abuse in USA Gymnastics prompted former gymnast Rachael Denhollander to alert the newspaper to the decadeslong sexual abuse of girls by Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, now in prison.

In 2011, the Patriot-News broke the story that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was being investigated by a grand jury. Sandusky ultimately was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to prison.

A former Ohio State University wrestler contacted The Columbus Dispatch in 2018 about a sports doctor’s decades of abuse, although the university announced an investigation before the newspaper could finished reporting. More than 350 alleged victims are suing the university.

Kelly McBride, senior vice president at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and chair of its ethics and leadership center, said the media’s role in reporting such abuses and holding institutions accountable shows “the power of local journalism.”

“You cannot possibly overestimate the importance of public scrutiny on an institution, whether it’s public or private,” said McBride.