Content Warning: sexual assault 
Peter Chen, former professor of 

Electrical Engineering and Com-
puter Science at the University of 
Michigan, appeared in the 22nd 
Circuit Court of Washtenaw Coun-
ty on Sept. 30 afternoon for a pre-
trial hearing. 

Chen is charged with crimi-

nal sexual misconduct of the first 
degree, a felony that could carry a 
sentence of life imprisonment. He 
will stand trial Jan. 31 at 8:30 a.m. 

At the pre-trial hearing Sept. 30, 

prosecutor Andrew Childers and 
Chen’s lawyer, Mariell Lehman, 
stated no agreements had been 
made regarding the case. They both 
thought there would be no resolu-
tion and jointly recommended to 
the court that the case proceeds to 

trial. 

Judge Darlene O’Brien, who pre-

sided over the case, said there will 
be a final pre-trial hearing on Dec. 
16. In the meantime, all of Chen’s 
bond conditions — remaining out of 
custody on personal recognizance 
and restricted access with minors 
— continue to apply.

At 
a 
preliminary 
examina-

tion in Ann Arbor’s 15th District 
Court in July, Judge Miriam Perry 
found that probable cause existed 
to believe the crime of criminal 
sexual conduct of the first degree 
occurred and that Chen committed 
the crime. The case then proceeded 
to the 22nd Circuit Court.

Allegations against Chen sur-

faced less than a year after sexual 
misconduct 
allegations 
against 

CSE professor Jason Mars, which 
triggered calls for Mars’ removal 
and an uproar from students. Chen 
became the interim chair of CSE 

following the departure of Brian 
Noble, who abruptly stepped down 
in February 2020. Chen resigned 
only six months later due to “per-
sonal reasons.”

The department has dealt with 

other allegations of sexual miscon-
duct against former CSE professor 
Walter Lasecki, whose resignation 
took effect in August.

Shannon Smith, who is listed as 

Chen’s attorney on the court dock-
et, was not present at the hearing. 
Lehman and Smith’s firm, Smith 
Lehman, represents Chen and 
specializes in criminal sexual mis-
conduct allegations. Smith will be 
present at the trial in January. 

Smith represented the now-

convicted Larry Nassar, who faced 
more than 150 sexual miscon-
duct allegations from his time as 
a professor at Michigan State Uni-
versity’s College of Osteopathic 
Medicine and USA National Gym-

nastics team doctor. 

In a January 2021 statement to 

The Daily, Lehman said that Chen 
denied the allegations against him.

“(Chen) completely denies the 

allegations and has cooperated 
fully with (AAPD) to assist them 
in their investigation,” Lehman 
wrote. “Mr. Chen is confident that 
the truth will prevail and that he 
will be exonerated fully. Mr. Chen 
thanks the numerous people who 
have reached out in support of him 
over the last few days.”

A previous version of this story 

incorrectly stated Nassar was a 
professor at Michigan State Uni-
versity’s College of Human Medi-
cine. It has been corrected to 
reflect he was a professor at Mich-
igan State University’s College of 
Osteopathic Medicine.

Daily Staff Reporter Jared Dougall 

can be reached at jdougall@umich.

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PUBLIC SAFETY
Former CSE professor Peter Chen charged 
with first degree sexual misconduct
Felony could carry life imprisonment sentence, trial is set to begin on Jan. 31

JARED DOUGALL
Daily Staff Reporter

Associate Editor: Julia Maloney

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Buddy Stark, the newly appointed planetarium manager at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, poses for a photo.

PHOTO

Content Warning: sexual assault
The Michigan House Oversight 

Committee held a hearing Sept. 30 
to discuss two new house bills to 
empower sexual assault survivors 
to file suit for damages. Victims 
of late University of Michigan 
athletic doctor Robert Anderson 
and former USA Gymnastics and 
Michigan State University doctor 
Larry Nassar spoke in testimony 
before the committee to express 
their full support for these bills. 

The 
two 
bills, 
known 
as 

Michigan’s 
Empowering 

Survivors 
legislative 
package, 

was originally introduced on 
Sept. 16, 2020 and reintroduced in 
early 2021 by Rep. Ryan Berman, 
R-Commerce 
Township, 
and 

Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit. 
It consists of two bills aimed 
at protecting victims of sexual 
assault. The legislative package 
has 
also 
received 
bipartisan 

support from legislators.

One of the two new house 

bills included in the legislative 
package, 
HB 
4307, 
prevents 

schools from claiming immunity 
when the abuse took place “under 
the guise of medical care and 
the school knew or should have 
known,” Berman said.

Berman 
spoke 
about 
the 

importance of reevaluating the 
laws to ensure they are protecting 
community members.

“We need to look again … at the 

laws we have in place,” Berman 
said. “Are they adequate? Does 
there need to be a change? If there’s 
criminal sexual conduct from a 
government agency or agent and 
someone either knew about it or 
should have known about it and 

they didn’t do anything to prevent 
it and they allowed it to continue 
occurring, then there should be 
some liability. They shouldn’t be 
able to hide behind the shield of 
governmental immunity.”

Rep. Pat Outman, R-Six Lakes, 

brought 
up 
concerns 
about 

HB 4307 being overly broad, 
especially 
pertaining 
to 
the 

section that states that a school 
“should have known” about abuse.

The other bill, HB 4360, 

proposes an amendment to the 
statute of limitations to allow 
for a one-year window for those 
abused while undergoing medical 
care to file a suit. This is similar 
to the 90-day window previously 
allowed by state law for MSU’s 
Nassar survivors.

Trinea Gonczar, director at 

Avalon Healing Center, was the 
first to testify at the hearing as 
a victim of Nassar. She spoke 
about how long it took her to 
acknowledge her assault and 
the importance of amending the 
statute of limitations.

“I had to come to terms with the 

fact that my entire childhood was 
a lie,” Gonczar said. “As a 37-year-
old woman … watching the other 
brave girls and young women 
speak their truth and sharing 
their impact statements one-by-
one with almost identical stories 
(to) mine … assault takes time to 
process. Just because someone 
was raped early as a child, they 
should not be penalized. They 
should still be protected and 
offered justice.”

Former U-M football player 

Jon Vaughn spoke on his assaults 
during 
his 
testimony 
and 

announced his support for the 
legislative package.

“We trusted our doctors, and 

especially trusted U-M doctors 

— who wouldn’t?” Vaughn said. 
“Now in 2021 as a 51-year-old 
man, I know that we were abused, 
assaulted, raped.”

Brixie spoke about the variety 

of reasons many victims do not 
initially come forward after their 
assault, 
including 
PTSD 
and 

threats from the perpetrator.

“It’s important to remember 

that prior to the 2018 reforms, 
folks who are survivors only had 
three years to come forward,” 
Brixie said. “We in the state of 
Michigan, and our laws, are partly 
to blame for serial sex abusers 
being harbored as a result of our 
laws.”

Rep. 
Steven 
Johnson, 

R-Wayland, said the committee 
should ensure that the bills include 
some degree of protections for 
those accused of misconduct. 

“It’s a tough line to walk here 

where you’re trying to make sure 
you protect the survivors while 
also the innocent,” Johnson said. 
“That’s why it’s a very difficult 
package of bills here to make sure 
that we get this right, so encourage 
the committee to be very active 
in this to make sure that we can 
thread the needle to look out for 
the victims while at the same time 
protecting the innocent.”

The University has received 

backlash for its lack of action 
against Anderson after receiving 
complaints from students..There 
have been recent demands for the 
University to take responsibility 
for Anderson’s actions, including 
at the most recent Board of 
Regents meeting.

WilmerHale, the firm hired 

by the University to investigate 
Anderson’s misconduct, found 
that complaints about Anderson 
traceback to 1966.

Gonczar 
spoke 
about 
this 

historical inaction on the part of 
the University.

“These 
institutions 
have 

shamed, 
blamed 
and 
only 

protected themselves, which in 
turn is the exact way to attract 
predatory behavior to not only 
flourish, but to be welcomed,” 
Gonczar said. “Immunity for state 
universities gives no incentive to 
change for the better.”

Vaughn explained that several 

U-M officials, including former 
football coach Bo Schembechler, 
were 
aware 
of 
Anderson’s 

misconduct and chose not to act 
on the allegations.

“They made a choice not to 

protect us,” Vaugn said. “Instead, 
the University enabled our abuse.”

Tad 
DeLuca, 
former 
U-M 

wrestler, also testified and shared 
the mental and physical effects 
that his assaults had on him. 
During his time at the University, 
DeLuca reported Anderson to his 
coach but was turned away. 

After writing an official letter to 

report Anderson, athletic director 
Don Canham suspended DeLuca 
from the wrestling program and 
took away his full-ride scholarship, 
which was paying for his out-of-
state tuition. According to DeLuca, 
since 
the 
WilmerHale 
report 

came out in May 2021, current 
University employees have denied 
the allegations and the content of 
the report, attacking victims who 
have spoken out.

“The 
lesson 
was 
clear,” 

DeLuca said. “If you try to stand 
up for yourself and do the right 
thing, Michigan will destroy 
you. They will pound you down. 
They did.”

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Kate 

Weiland 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

kmwblue@umich.edu.

KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter

Speakers express support for Michigan’s Empowering Survivors legislative package

Anderson, Nassar survivors testify during 
Mich. House Oversight Committee hearing

GOVERNMENT

