Allegations of Abuse by Former University of Michigan Doctor Robert E. Anderson

Submitted by UMFanatic96 on February 19th, 2020 at 10:07 AM

Allegations have come forward against a former Michigan doctor named Robert E. Anderson. He was a former Director of University Health Service and athletic team physician. 

He was a doctor for teams under Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr with these allegations ranging from the 1970's to the 1990's. The nature of these allegations is similar to the ilk of Nassar where they were taking place during medical exams. 

There is no word yet on who knew what and when as this is all coming out, but Michigan is investigating this matter. They have created a hotline for people to call if they were victims of Doctor Anderson and they have started conducting interviews to try and get to the bottom of this.

More details will likely come out as time goes, but below is a link to the initial report.

Robert E. Anderson retired in 2003 and passed away in 2008.

Link: https://record.umich.edu/articles/patients-of-late-u-m-campus-physician-asked-to-call-hotline/

The Maize Halo

February 19th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^

I'm glad we live in a society now where stuff like this is starting to be uncovered more and more every day. It is crazy how many bad people there are out there like this doing these kind of things and how it has existed for all eternity.

ItsGreatToBe

February 19th, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^

While I agree that it is great that these things are uncovered, there is still the serious issue of the victims' shattered lives.

Speaking from my own personal experience at 14 years old (unrelated to this particular instance), what happened to me happened at a crucial point in my life developmentally. What happened to me caused me to rethink everything I'd been told by my parents up to that point.

Besides disclosing this first to my therapist at age 40, then immediately thereafter to my wife of 10 years, the only other person who knows is a sheriff's detective whom I contacted to tell my story after I uncovered a 2009 news article about the individual who did this to me. This was 10 years after the fact, so the statute of limitations had run out, but the detective disclosed to me that during their investigation, they "heard about" situations similar to mine, but were never able to prove them.

What happened to me led me to, among other things: quit playing sports altogether; quit acting in plays (which was my lifeblood at that point); start smoking; start drinking heavily, and as a means to pass out; start doing drugs - light, heavy, and everything in between; turn everything negative in my life into another data point to feed my self-loathing; get angry to the point where I was termed a "loose cannon" and seriously worried about hurting other people; try but continually fail to have dating or serious relationships with women; pour myself into work in an unhealthy manner; hoping and praying that I'd die before age 25 (or 35 if "god" is a cruel bastard).

Through over a year of therapy, I've realized that my anger and self-loathing, together with all of the other things I mentioned above, stem directly from that incident that happened at summer camp at age 14. For 26 years, I thought I was flawed and unworthy of loving or being loved. For 26 years, I longed for ways to die (and contemplated suicide on more than one occasion). For 26 years, I assumed that I had brought all of this upon myself.

Thankfully, I found a refuge in therapy, meditation, exercise, and cultivating the healthy relationships in my life.

However, there's a part of me that will never get over what one sick motherfucker did to me and countless other teens over the decades where he was in a position to take advantage of us. That piece of shit ruined my life and never cared to even say thanks for what he took from me.

The positive things I've been focusing on for the last year have helped me put what happened behind me, and forgive myself for shutting out what happened to me for 26 years while having it still manifest itself through destructive behaviors.

And while what happened to that sick fuck in 2009 landed him a brief stint in jail and an entry on the Sex Offender Registry, he still roams free. He still gets to enjoy his life with or without a guilty conscience. While I have to spend my time and money working through what happened to me, and think about how I talk to my kids about avoiding the type of situation I found myself in, while at a seemingly innocuous place like summer camp.

So I agree that it is great that things like this come to light, but I always visualize kicking my perpetrator, and others who do these things to innocent victims, in the balls so hard that they choke on their own piss. And that's something that I don't think will ever go away.

chrisu

February 19th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^

Humbled to read what you've chosen to share. I have had a couple immediate family members suffer abuse as children, and it surfaced when I was in my teens. Watching them go through the 'process' and come out the other side, to me, is a miracle. So few people are really able to do what you have done - I truly hope you understand the depth of your accomplishment. You are an amazing person.

The Maize Halo

February 19th, 2020 at 1:21 PM ^

Thank you very much for sharing. I agree that there is nothing that will ever be able to give back what is taken. My only hope is that, as coming forward becomes more of the norm / social media and the like continues to grow, that children and adolescents will one day become less scared for their lives to start calling people out (which is a very tough ask, I know).

ItsGreatToBe

February 19th, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^

Well, never thought that MGoBlog would be therapeutic for me, but here we are, and thanks y'all.

 

To the comment about perpetrators realizing the error of their ways when they get caught, that's what a rational person would think, and I myself thought that for a while. But in my case, what happened to me was in the early 1990s and perpetuated for an unknown amount of time. (But, given my discussions with other kids at camp that week, he had an MO.) Then, in 2009, Sick Fuck forgot to wipe a laptop with the incriminating video when he donated it to his church.

What really got me though, was his fucking lawyer arguing at sentencing that this was a one-off, he was a respectable, church-going person who didn't deserve to have his reputation besmirched by this incident. Ergo, he should be kept off the Sex Offender Registry.

That's when I almost kicked my computer in the balls and scoured the internet to find the case docket, contacted the investigator, and told him my story. He mentioned they had heard stories similar to mine, but the camp was in a different county than the video incident and the statute of limitations had expired.

I also found out that he was still working with his church in the 10 years post-conviction, specifically on the church directory. Part of his job in that role was to photograph families, even those with children. The investigator agreed that this was probably not a good decision on the part of the church, given is status on the Registry. Well, in the last year, he seems to have been booted from that church. But who knows where and when he'll rear his ugly head again, and I shudder to think about what that might entail.

 

UMFanatic96

February 19th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^

I really butchered the name in the title. I meant for it to be Robert E. Anderson.

 

Julian Stone was a victim who has come public. In his allegation, he said he told no one at the university what happened and only told a friend.

Mods, please feel free to delete so we can get a thread with the actual doctor's name in it and not one of the victims...

UMFanatic96

February 19th, 2020 at 1:38 PM ^

Here is that section of my post. Where in the hell did I say anything about the scholarship situation? I noted it was my best guess at the rotation and then put 3 players I think will transfer. Nowhere did I say anything about why they would transfer. 

People immediately assumed and continue to say the transfers were due to scholarships, but in reality I think those transfers happen due to playing time.

Even after I stated that my opinions on the transfers have nothing to do with scholarships, people continued to blindly assume that's what I meant. 

And what do you mean by the "entire context of my post refutes" what I was saying? Read below, how does this insinuate anything about the scholarships? 

"Below is a link to their article where Corey Evans says this. Below is my best guess at Michigan's lineup/rotation for next year if Christopher does come to AA.

Guard: Christopher, DDJ, Brooks, Jackson

Wing: Wagner, Livers, Todd, Williams, Howard

Bigs: Dickinson, Johns, Davis

That would mean Castleton, Nunez, and Bajema all transfer.

Even if Livers does go pro, getting Christopher really helps with the loss. If Livers comes back next year, minutes will be hard to come by for anyone. Michigan could have one of the deepest rotations in the country.

blue in dc

February 19th, 2020 at 3:05 PM ^

You may want to familiarize yourself with the law of holes.   The generally accepted one is “when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”.  Also, even after you stop digging, you are still in a hole.

Some people prefer - “when you find yourself in a hole, deny you are in a hole” or “when you find yourself in a hole, get a bigger shovel”.   Very view people can successfully carry off these alternative strategies - you aren’t one of them.
 

 

ak47

February 19th, 2020 at 1:11 PM ^

Not really the place for this discussion but I'd argue the lack of an afterlife makes life more meaningful not less. Its all you've got, its one chance to impact the world around you and you have to make the most of it because the only thing that matters after you are gone is how you impacted the people around you.

FauxMo

February 19th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^

Great line from a decent movie:

"My lord, when a body is burnt, it cannot be resurrected until Judgment Day!"

"If we do not burn these bodies, we will all be dead of disease in three days. God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn't... then he is not God, and we need not worry."

Larry Appleton

February 19th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^

These perverts put themselves into positions where they can get the most access to potential victims.  Priests, teachers, scout leaders, doctors.  It's as scary as it is sickening.

Cruzcontrol75

February 19th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^

The news yesterday of the Boy Scouts of America filing for bankruptcy was yet another reminder of the damage from the actions of these sick bastards.  My boys are involved in scouting and it instills many great things, teamwork, values, civic duty.  But it's sad to see what had been inflicted and how it still affects those involved and not. 

For those who doubt the existence of evil on this planet you need not look further from the news for evidence. 

UMfan21

February 19th, 2020 at 11:02 AM ^

It is a shame because I loved scouting.  I started at age 5 as a tiger cub and stayed until I was 18 and an eagle scout, hitting every rank in between.  During my years i made a lot of friends and memories outdoors.  I never once saw anything inappropriate happen to myself or others, but there certainly are bad apples out there.

 

I know participation in scouting has been decreasing (hell it was decreasing in the 90s), which is sad because a lot of kids these days could really benefit from time outdoors and learning basic life skills.

KBLOW

February 19th, 2020 at 1:07 PM ^

It's important to remember that the BSA isn't some sort of innocent victim of these predators. Like the Catholic church, the BSA actively worked to cover up allegations of sexual abuse, denied the abuse occurred at all, and ignored/attacked the children who were abused. They deserve to go bankrupt.