Utah County OB-GYN faces additional criminal charge
Nov 13, 2024, 4:08 PM | Updated: 6:05 pm
PROVO — Another criminal charge has been filed against a Utah County OB-GYN who was the subject of a lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly 100 women who claimed they were abused by him.
David Harrison Broadbent, 77, was charged in June in 4th District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. Now, amended charges have been filed to include an additional charge of object rape, a first-degree felony.
In July 2020, a woman went to Broadbent for an examination. After she had partially undressed in the treatment room, Broadbent entered and lifted the woman’s shirt and inappropriately grabbed her, according to charging documents.
In the amended charges filed last week, Broadbent is also accused of sexually abusing the woman when she went back to his office three months later. He is accused of giving the woman a pap smear exam for “an amount of time far in excess of what was required,” according to charging documents.
Utah County OB/GYN accused of sexual assault makes court appearance
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 4th District Judge Robert C. Lunnen dismissed the lawsuit three months later, stating that the allegations raised should be part of a medical malpractice suit and that he did not have jurisdiction over the issues raised.
The women appealed the decision to the Utah Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court’s decision in August, stating that sexual assault is not a malpractice issue.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have requested a venue change to hold the proceeding in Salt Lake City instead of Provo. According to Brooke Heath, one of the plaintiffs, 213 women plan to join the revived lawsuit.
Contributing: Garna Mejia, KSL TV
