WASHINGTON (Agencies): An Army anesthesiologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to 41 charges of sexual misconduct involving dozens of patients at a Washington military medical facility in one of the largest sexual abuse investigations in the service’s history.
Maj. Michael Stockin faces a potential sentence of nearly 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing of patients he treated at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord between 2019 and 2022.
A military judge will hear victims testify this week and determine whether to accept the plea agreement Stockin and his attorneys made with government prosecutors.
Stockin admitted to 36 counts of abusive sexual contact and five counts of indecent viewing, said Michelle McCaskill, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Stockin’s court-martial trial, which began Tuesday, is expected to last until Jan. 17, according to McCaskill.
Stockin pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal with the government before this week’s trial.
Many patients who later reported abuse allegations against Stockin were male soldiers seeking medical treatment for a variety of injuries requiring pain management.
The victims allege that during what Stockin claimed were routine exams, he would grope them, focusing unnecessarily on their genital area, even when it was unrelated to the injury or pain for which they sought treatment, according to a separate, federal civil lawsuit filed by alleged victims against the Army.
That lawsuit includes 21 victims each seeking $5 million in damages from the government.