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PROVO — A Utah County OB-GYN who was the subject of lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly 100 women who claimed they were abused by him is now facing his first criminal charge.
David Harrison Broadbent, 77, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
The charge is based on an alleged incident in July of 2020 when a woman went to Broadbent for an examination. After undressing from the waist down in the treatment room, Broadbent entered and lifted the woman's shirt and inappropriately grabbed her, according to charging documents.
He then "grabbed (the woman's) leg in what felt to her as a sexual manner and pulled her to the edge of the table and began the examination," the charges state.
The Utah County Attorney's Office issued a statement on Thursday saying Broadbent remains under investigation, and the office "will make a determination whether additional charges will be filed against Dr. Broadbent when these investigations are completed."
In 2022, 94 women filed a lawsuit against the doctor, claiming they were sexually assaulted while getting medical care from Broadbent and that he made insensitive, offensive and inappropriate remarks, performed unnecessary intimate exams, and used his hands to touch them in sensitive areas for his own gratification when not medically necessary.
Broadbent surrendered his license to practice after the lawsuit was filed. But Utah's 4th District Court Judge Robert C. Lunnen dismissed the lawsuit three months later.
The judge agreed the events described in the complaint were "appalling," and that Broadbent's treatment of patients was "insensitive, disrespectful and degrading" — but said his ruling was based on the law, not his reactions to the allegations in the lawsuit. He said the issues raised should be part of a medical malpractice suit, so he did not have jurisdiction over the issues raised.
In October, the women took their appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. As of Thursday, the state's high court had yet to issue a decision.
Utah high court considers case of 94 women alleging abuse against Provo OB-GYN
Attorneys argued for and against the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against a Provo OB-GYN by near 100 women alleging he abused them before the Utah Supreme Court on Friday.
