Wrestler says he was abused by university doctor

 

An Olympic wrestler is accusing a University of Michigan doctor of touching him inappropriately during medical exams at the school and says the physician's reputation for such conduct was well known among his teammates.

Andy Hrovat, who competed for the U.S. in the 2008 Summer Olympics, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the encounters with the late Dr. Robert E. Anderson happened during his freshman year in 1998.

"I would like to let people know that it's OK to come out," Hrovat said in an interview from his attorney's office in Denver. "It's OK to let your voice be heard."

Hrovat is the first athlete to make public accusations against Anderson following complaints this week from other former students that the doctor sexually abused them decades ago.

"I was warned about him from teammates, saying, 'If anything happens and you go see the doctor, he's going to inappropriately touch you. That's just what Doc A does,'" Hrovat recalled.

He declined to describe the exam, saying he was uncomfortable talking about it.

"To me, the mental part of it of having to go in there knowing that this doctor was going to touch you inappropriately is what sticks out most in my mind," he said.

Hrovat said he did not tell then-Michigan wrestling coach Dale Bahr or anyone in athletic administration about Anderson's conduct.

"In my mind, he normalized what he was doing and made you think that that was just a normal part of the procedure," he said. "And so, why would you tell somebody?"

Also Thursday, the university president apologized to "anyone who was harmed" by Anderson. His comment came a day after the school announced that it had launched an investigation into Anderson's behavior following abuse allegations from five former patients.

Officials have acknowledged that some university employees were aware of accusations against the doctor prior to a 2018 complaint that led to a police investigation.

University President Mark Schlissel opened a meeting of the school's Board of Regents Thursday by reading a prepared statement about Anderson, who died in 2008.

"The allegations are highly disturbing. On behalf of the university, I apologize to anyone who was harmed by Dr. Anderson," Schlissel said.