Female Goes Public with Michigan Doctor Abuse Claims

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A former member of the University of Michigan women's tennis team has emerged as the first female to claim she was sexually abused during an examination by university physician Robert Anderson.

As reported by ESPN, Cathy Kalahar says the abuse occurred during a physical exam in 1973. When she described her experience to a psychological counselor at the University Health Service months later, Kalahar says the counselor immediately dismissed her complaints as untrue and a "sexual fantasy."

Anderson, who died in 2008, worked at the University of Michigan in a variety of roles from 1967 through 2003, including as a team physician in the athletic department. A letter sent to current athletic director Warde Manuel in 2018 prompted an investigation that eventually led to revelations of a long pattern of alleged sexual abuse among more than 400 men, many of whom had competed for the Wolverines. More than 70 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits this year that argue that the university's negligence allowed Anderson to continue his sexual abuse for decades after he was reported to authorities on campus.

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