Was completely right. Washington Post article makes it clear the guy should’ve been fired in 1980 - and a UM administrator in fact *tried* to fire him only for someone to then bring him into the athletic department.
Article in spoiler. If you are or know a victim, or have any personal connection to this, you may not want to read.
Article in spoiler. If you are or know a victim, or have any personal connection to this, you may not want to read.
Dr. Robert E. Anderson treated students at the University of Michigan for 24 years after being forced out of student health services for "fooling around with male students" in exam rooms, according to a police investigation.
The administrator who ousted Anderson as director of the University Health Service in 1979 was stunned to learn from police that Anderson continued as a doctor in athletics and other capacities, according to a police interviews with Thomas Easthope, then UM associate director of students. Anderson went on to be the top physician for the University of Michigan football team until his retirement in 2003.
"Easthope thought Dr. Anderson was gone, gone for good," according to Detective Mark West's report of the interview. He wrote that Easthope was "visibly upset" when informed by police that Anderson continued at the university for nearly another quarter century.
"Easthope reported that we (the police) may have over 100 victims."
The 2018 report was part of a 124-page police investigative file about allegations against Anderson that was reviewed by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's office and obtained Friday by The Detroit News under the Freedom of Information Act.
The investigative documents make clear that officials at the University of Michigan were aware of sexual abuse allegations against Anderson, who died in 2008. It is not clear, however, why or how he moved as a practicing physician in another position at the university.
The records paint a sweeping account of alleged sexual abuse for decades behind medical doors, and other UM officials who heard rumors about Anderson but did nothing to address them.
The documents describe Anderson's 35 years at the University of Michigan as the director of the University Health Service, the team physician who was remembered in his 2008 obituary as "Dr. A." Some students had another name for him: Dr. "Drop Your Drawers" Anderson, according to the police report.
According to a document dated Aug. 13, 1979, Anderson was to be moved from his position as director of the health service to clinical instructor effective Jan. 14, 1980, with a reduced salary. From there, he served as the athletic department's top physician, serving football teams led by Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr.
A search warrant affidavit signed by UM Detective Ryan Cavanaugh said he and West had spoken with Easthope on Nov. 2, 2018. According to the affidavit, when asked about Anderson, Easthope referred to him as "Dr. Drop Your Drawers."
Easthope told police that activists 40 or 50 years ago approached him and told him that Anderson had assaulted many in the gay community. He told police he "would never forget walking across the campus to Health Services to fire Bob."
"Easthope said that he told Dr. Anderson that he knew he was fooling around in the exam rooms with the boy patients. Anderson just looked at him, but he did not deny it," according to the police summary.
Easthope initially told detectives he fired Anderson "on the spot" but shortly thereafter said he may have allowed the doctor to resign. He told the officers he believed Anderson had returned to private practice. Efforts to reach Easthope by phone and at his home were unsuccessful on Friday.
The release of the UM police documents comes three days after The News reported that Robert Julian Stone, a UM alumnus, and several other alleged victims went to police with allegations that the doctor molested him during a medical appointment in June 1971.
The day The News inquired about the status of the investigation, Washtenaw County prosecutors said they had completed their review and recommended no charges. The next day, UM officials announced they set up a hotline for other alleged victims to call. President Mark Schlissel later apologized.
The documents indicate UM officials received a letter from a former student and wrestler in July 2018 that he had been molested by Anderson in the 1970s, but the report languished in a staff member's "work pile" at the Office of Institutional Equity for two and a half months before being given to police to investigate. Police then aggressively investigated the allegations, only to have them go months without a review by prosecutors, documents show.
Documents suggest pattern of abuse
The documents released Friday portray a pattern of pervasive abuse by Anderson during medical exams and indicate that he had a reputation for inappropriate actions with patients.
Bill Johannesen, the wrestling coach at UM from 1974-78, told university police he remembered his athletes using the nickname "Drop your drawers Anderson" and "laughing" and "joking" about Anderson, but said he didn't remember any specific complaints filed against the doctor.
Johannesen told police wrestlers would joke that they would be going to Anderson for a "hurt elbow," then the first thing they'd be told was "take your pants down."
All of his wrestlers got yearly physicals from Anderson, Johannesen said.
Multiple wrestlers from the 1970s were interviewed by UM police in November 2018, with one saying he had heard about Anderson giving prostate exams, and another saying he had received a prostate exam.
Multiple medical officials interviewed by UM police said rectal or prostate exams were absolutely not necessary for the type of routine physicals Anderson was conducting.
Yet, one of the wrestlers told police he received a rectal exam from Anderson about "50 percent of the time," usually when he was alone in the appointment, and not when he was at a group appointment. One of the times he received a rectal exam, he had gone to Anderson for a hurt elbow.
That wrestler told UM police, "as a 19-year-old kid, you don't think to question stuff like that."
The wrestlers' names in the UM police reports were redacted.
Former UM and Olympic wrestler Andy Hrovat told the Associated Press on Thursday that Anderson had had touched himinappropriately during medical exams.
The administrator who ousted Anderson as director of the University Health Service in 1979 was stunned to learn from police that Anderson continued as a doctor in athletics and other capacities, according to a police interviews with Thomas Easthope, then UM associate director of students. Anderson went on to be the top physician for the University of Michigan football team until his retirement in 2003.
"Easthope thought Dr. Anderson was gone, gone for good," according to Detective Mark West's report of the interview. He wrote that Easthope was "visibly upset" when informed by police that Anderson continued at the university for nearly another quarter century.
"Easthope reported that we (the police) may have over 100 victims."
The 2018 report was part of a 124-page police investigative file about allegations against Anderson that was reviewed by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's office and obtained Friday by The Detroit News under the Freedom of Information Act.
The investigative documents make clear that officials at the University of Michigan were aware of sexual abuse allegations against Anderson, who died in 2008. It is not clear, however, why or how he moved as a practicing physician in another position at the university.
The records paint a sweeping account of alleged sexual abuse for decades behind medical doors, and other UM officials who heard rumors about Anderson but did nothing to address them.
The documents describe Anderson's 35 years at the University of Michigan as the director of the University Health Service, the team physician who was remembered in his 2008 obituary as "Dr. A." Some students had another name for him: Dr. "Drop Your Drawers" Anderson, according to the police report.
According to a document dated Aug. 13, 1979, Anderson was to be moved from his position as director of the health service to clinical instructor effective Jan. 14, 1980, with a reduced salary. From there, he served as the athletic department's top physician, serving football teams led by Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr.
A search warrant affidavit signed by UM Detective Ryan Cavanaugh said he and West had spoken with Easthope on Nov. 2, 2018. According to the affidavit, when asked about Anderson, Easthope referred to him as "Dr. Drop Your Drawers."
Easthope told police that activists 40 or 50 years ago approached him and told him that Anderson had assaulted many in the gay community. He told police he "would never forget walking across the campus to Health Services to fire Bob."
"Easthope said that he told Dr. Anderson that he knew he was fooling around in the exam rooms with the boy patients. Anderson just looked at him, but he did not deny it," according to the police summary.
Easthope initially told detectives he fired Anderson "on the spot" but shortly thereafter said he may have allowed the doctor to resign. He told the officers he believed Anderson had returned to private practice. Efforts to reach Easthope by phone and at his home were unsuccessful on Friday.
The release of the UM police documents comes three days after The News reported that Robert Julian Stone, a UM alumnus, and several other alleged victims went to police with allegations that the doctor molested him during a medical appointment in June 1971.
The day The News inquired about the status of the investigation, Washtenaw County prosecutors said they had completed their review and recommended no charges. The next day, UM officials announced they set up a hotline for other alleged victims to call. President Mark Schlissel later apologized.
The documents indicate UM officials received a letter from a former student and wrestler in July 2018 that he had been molested by Anderson in the 1970s, but the report languished in a staff member's "work pile" at the Office of Institutional Equity for two and a half months before being given to police to investigate. Police then aggressively investigated the allegations, only to have them go months without a review by prosecutors, documents show.
Documents suggest pattern of abuse
The documents released Friday portray a pattern of pervasive abuse by Anderson during medical exams and indicate that he had a reputation for inappropriate actions with patients.
Bill Johannesen, the wrestling coach at UM from 1974-78, told university police he remembered his athletes using the nickname "Drop your drawers Anderson" and "laughing" and "joking" about Anderson, but said he didn't remember any specific complaints filed against the doctor.
Johannesen told police wrestlers would joke that they would be going to Anderson for a "hurt elbow," then the first thing they'd be told was "take your pants down."
All of his wrestlers got yearly physicals from Anderson, Johannesen said.
Multiple wrestlers from the 1970s were interviewed by UM police in November 2018, with one saying he had heard about Anderson giving prostate exams, and another saying he had received a prostate exam.
Multiple medical officials interviewed by UM police said rectal or prostate exams were absolutely not necessary for the type of routine physicals Anderson was conducting.
Yet, one of the wrestlers told police he received a rectal exam from Anderson about "50 percent of the time," usually when he was alone in the appointment, and not when he was at a group appointment. One of the times he received a rectal exam, he had gone to Anderson for a hurt elbow.
That wrestler told UM police, "as a 19-year-old kid, you don't think to question stuff like that."
The wrestlers' names in the UM police reports were redacted.
Former UM and Olympic wrestler Andy Hrovat told the Associated Press on Thursday that Anderson had had touched himinappropriately during medical exams.
