Nassar Victim: I'm 'Horrified' by What This School Is Doing

Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander slams the University of Michigan over allegations there
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 22, 2020 4:30 PM CST
Nassar Victim Slams Michigan for Response to Doctor Abuse
This April 7, 2017 file photo, shows Burton Tower on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich.   (Hunter Dyke/Ann Arbor News via AP, File)

The first woman who publicly accused Michigan State sports doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse said she is "horrified," and "deeply disappointed" with the University of Michigan for how it has handled allegations of abuse by a doctor at that 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 AP. "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 against sexual misconduct. Stone, 69, said he contacted the Detroit News 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," Denhollander said. "They forced the survivors to have to speak publicly to get anything to happen. That's despicable. It's re-victimizing and re-violating." (A wrestler has added to the Michigan allegations.)

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