Utah gynecologist David Broadbent accused of sexual abuse — ProPublica

Utah gynecologist David Broadbent was charged with sexual abuse on Thursday. Prosecutors accuse him of sexually touching a patient during an examination in 2020.

Broadbent has been accused in civil suits of inappropriately touching more than 100 patients during examinations – but this is the first time the Utah County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against him. He faces a second-degree felony, which carries a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

Over the past year, The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica have reported in numerous cases on the difficulties women have faced when filing sexual misconduct allegations against Broadbent, including obstacles in court and in reporting to police.

The charging documents say one of Broadbent’s patients came to him in 2020 because of a lump in her vaginal area. Broadbent allegedly instructed the patient to undress from the waist down – but when he returned to the exam room after changing, prosecutors say he lifted up her shirt and bra and touched her breasts. He then grabbed her leg “in a way that felt sexual,” prosecutors say, and began a vaginal exam.

A lawyer representing Broadbent in his civil case did not respond to a request for comment. No attorney is yet listed in his criminal case.

Utah Assistant District Attorney Tim Taylor, who is also a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said Thursday that police and prosecutors were continuing their investigation and were still considering whether to file additional charges against the gynecologist.

At least 49 women have reported to Provo police that Broadbent sexually assaulted them during examinations. Prosecutors have been considering whether to file charges for 18 months. This month, prosecutors agreed to pay a nurse who specializes in sexual assault examinations to review the prosecution’s evidence and conduct research and advise prosecutors on what treatments are common during a visit to a gynecologist.

Many of the women who reported to police said Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, vaginas and rectums during exams – often without warning or explanation and in ways that hurt them and made them feel abused. Other former patients, as well as many of the women who went to police, have also filed lawsuits against Broadbent or the hospitals where he worked. In total, nearly 120 women have made allegations of sexual harassment in two civil lawsuits.

In September 2022, a judge dismissed one of the civil lawsuits filed by 94 women when he ruled that it fell under medical malpractice law rather than a civil sexual assault claim. That meant the lawsuit faced tighter filing deadlines—and missed them. The women appealed the ruling to the Utah Supreme Court and have now been waiting seven months for its decision.

In a separate civil case, 20 other women sued two hospitals where Broadbent worked and held privileges, claiming they knew about the alleged misconduct and failed to act. That case is still pending; the hospitals have argued in court filings that Broadbent’s alleged actions against those women did not occur on their premises and therefore they are not liable.

Broadbent has agreed to give up his medical practice while the criminal investigation is ongoing. In response to the civil suit filed by the group of 94 women, Broadbent’s lawyers have said the allegations of sexual assault against him are “baseless.”

The woman whose report led to the charges saw Broadbent in July 2020. A year and a half later, in December 2021, another former patient of Broadbent spoke publicly on the podcast “Mormon Stories,” describing how painful his examination of her years ago had been and how traumatized she was afterward.

After the podcast aired, women began coming forward publicly in civil lawsuits accusing Broadbent of inappropriate touching. Former patients also began filing police reports, although court records do not make it clear when the woman whose complaint led to the criminal charges contacted police.