PROVO, Utah — An OBGYN accused of abusing patients appeared in court Tuesday for the start of a preliminary hearing.
Dr. David Broadbent is facing numerous felony charges accusing him of sexually abusing patients during his lengthy career. He has denied wrongdoing.
Court records reviewed by FOX 13 News also show that nearly 450 women have filed civil lawsuits against him, accusing him of misconduct.
"I think the scary thing is that it’s probably larger than that," said Larissa DeGraaff, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. "Not in the hundreds, maybe thousands."
The litigation against Dr. Broadbent was bolstered by a Utah Supreme Court ruling last year. At the time, 94 women had asked the state's top court to revive a lawsuit they filed against Dr. Broadbent, Intermountain Healthcare and MountainStar Health Care. Since then, the lawsuits — and the plaintiffs — have grown.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Dr. Broadbent grilled a Provo police detective about the origins of the case and whether the alleged victims were responding to media reports about the litigation and who provided information to police and the Utah County Attorney's Office.
"Did you communicate with the civil lawyers about what information they had?" Broadbent's attorney, Scott Williams, asked Provo Police Detective Leteifa Asisi.
"Just what they offered me as medical records at the time," she replied on the witness stand.
"What you’re doing as the law enforcement officer in this case is receiving what they offer?" Williams said.
"The civil lawyers, right?"
"Yes."
Utah County prosecutors only called a pair of witnesses on Tuesday. The judge is expected to get supplemental briefing before making a ruling on whether Dr. Broadbent will be forced to stand trial on the felony charges.
The civil litigation is moving separately through the court system.
