ANN ARBOR (AP) — Fiveformer patients have alleged that a late University of Michigan physician sexually abused them during exams, with one accuser saying Dr. Robert E. Anderson’s actions over several decades made him a “sexual predator.”

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

“It is our understanding from the police investigation that there were rumors and some indication that U-M staff members were aware of Dr. Anderson’s inappropriate medical exams,” said spokesman Rick Fitzgerald.

Robert Julian Stone told The Associated Press that Anderson assaulted him during a medical appointment at the university’s health center in 1971. Stone said he alerted university officials last summer, inspired by the national #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct.

Stone was first interviewed by The Detroit News, which began reporting on the allegations before the university announced the investigation. Stone, who is 69, said he contacted the newspaper because he felt “stonewalled” by the university when he sought documentation on the investigation this year.

“Finally, the university has understood that this is something that needs to be addressed in a public fashion,” Stone said Wednesday, speaking hours after the university in Ann Arbor released a statement that an outside, independent investigation has been launched into the allegations against Anderson.

The former director of University Health Service and an athletic team physician worked at Michigan fromthe 1960suntil his retirement in 2003. He died in 2008. The school said it has set up a hotline for others who have information to come forward.

The revelations echo high-profile sexual abuse allegations made against sports doctors at other North American universities. Hundreds of young women and girls said they were molested by former Michigan State University sports physician Larry Nassar, who was sentenced in January 2018 to up to 175 years in prison in the abuse. About 350 men have sued Ohio State University over their alleged abuse by the late Dr. Richard Strauss at that university decades ago. And it’s not the first accusation against a University of Michigan official; Provost Martin Philbert was placed on paid leave in January following accusations of sexual misconduct.

The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims but Stone spoke publicly to The News and The AP.

Stone, who is gay, said he worried in the summer of 1971 that he had been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease and needed to see a doctor. He was 20 years old and an undergraduate at the university.

Another friend suggested that he see Anderson because the doctor had been nonjudgmental with other gay students, Stone said.

Stone said the doctor exposed himself during the exam and then used Stone’s hand to touch himself.

“I thought he must be a closeted gay man and I tried to excuse the behavior and feel sorry for him,” Stone said. “But that’s not what he was. He was a sexual predator, preying on young male students at the University of Michigan.”