More accusers come forward after Evelyn Yang breaks silence on alleged assault by OBGYN

Several more accusers came forward alleging that an OBGYN sexually abused them after Evelyn Yang, the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, first stepped forward to accuse the doctor of sexual misconduct. 

Nearly 40 women have now brought allegations to attorney Anthony DiPietro about the OBGYN, Robert Hadden, DiPietro told CNN. The attorney filed a civil suit against Hadden and Columbia University, where Hadden worked, in 2019 and will add the new women to that case, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to about 70.

Emilia Heckman, now 36, told CNN that Hadden licked her vagina when she was a patient of his in her late 20s.

“At first it was gloves on, and all of that,” Heckman said. “And then it transitioned to no gloves, a tongue and a beard. … And I recoiled.”

Jessica Chambers, a Wyoming educator, also accused Hadden of misconduct, saying that she felt she had to speak up after seeing Yang tell her story. 

“I mean now, in hindsight, I’m like, he was trying to arouse me while talking to me — under the guise of education,” Chambers said, recalling that Hadden touched her without gloves on while trying to explain female anatomy. “I’m thinking to myself, this is enough — I want his hands off of me. … And it went on for — it seemed like an extended period of time.”

Outrage has been focused on Hadden as well as the Manhattan District Attorney after Yang’s story came out. It was revealed that Hadden had been accused of abuse in the past and that he had reached a plea deal that enabled him to avoid jail time. He only had to relinquish his medical license. 

Yang said she was first inspired to come forward and tell her story after traveling the country on the campaign trail.

“Something about being on the trail and meeting people and seeing the difference that we’ve been making already has moved me to share my own story about it, about sexual assault,” Yang told CNN’s Dana Bash.

—Updated Monday at 5:15 p.m.