INDIANAPOLIS — Three former Indiana University men's basketball players have now come forward, alleging former team physician Dr. Brad Bomba Sr. sexually abused them.
Two players have been publicly named in a recent lawsuit against the IU Board of Trustees.
Haris Mujezinovic and Charlie Miller both played for IU's basketball team in the 1990s.
The lawsuit filed by attorney Kathleen Delaney claims, "IU failed to take effective preventive measures and allowed repeated harm to students, including Plaintiffs, endorsing and perpetuating a culture of deliberate indifference and tacit acceptance of Dr. Bomba Sr.'s sexual misconduct."
The suit also alleges IU's men's basketball medical care team had knowledge of Bomba's sexual assaults, but alleges no one took action to remove him.
The third former player goes by John Doe and is represented by Dallas-based attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegal.
"He knew there were other survivors because there had been other reporting, but he didn't know who they were, and he didn't know that there was more than one," said Tuegal, who has also represented survivors in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case.
Tuegal's firm is also seeking a potential civil claim against IU.
"I think the larger environment of what was going on at the school at the time is going to be relevant to this investigation," Tuegal said.
Tuegal said there's more.
"I've heard the response publicly in the past 24 hours since this has really been public of, well, maybe this was a medically necessary exam and the American Cancer Society and medical providers said for healthy, athletic young men like these, that was not a medically necessary exam," Tuegal said.
In September, IU retained an international law firm to conduct an internal review.
Among things to be reviewed are:
- If the conduct was appropriate, necessary, or within the standard of care.
- What medical professionals and athletic department or university officials were aware of the conduct and what action they took.
"This is going to be the first really widespread reckoning with sexual abuse in the sport of basketball at this level, especially at a university that has been such a prestigious basketball program," Tuegal said.
Tuegal hopes to work with other attorneys from Delaney and Delaney on this case.
"They requested an expedited deposition of Dr. Bomba Sr., and I think we will seek to join in that in some form, even if we haven't filed our lawsuit yet. We would, of course, want to be present and participate in that in some form because our interests are similar to the other survivors who filed their lawsuit," Tuegal said.