JBLM servicemen say the Army didn’t protect them from a doctor charged with abusive sexual contact

Fifteen current or retired Joint Base Lewis-McChord servicemen who say the Army failed to protect them from a military doctor who has been charged with sexual abuse are each seeking $5 million in damages for the emotional distress they say they have suffered.

“I have overwhelming feelings of sadness, fear, and anxiety,” one serviceman said in his complaint. “The severity of this emotional toll has made confiding in and seeking comfort from my family very challenging. I deal with mistrust because of how I was violated.”

Maj. Michael Stockin, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at the base’s Madigan Army Medical Center, faces 52 charges involving claims of abusive sexual contact with 41 victims, said Michelle McCaskill, spokesperson with the U.S. Army Officer of Special Trial Counsel. He has pleaded not guilty.

Stockin is scheduled to face court-martial in January 2025. A court-martial is the military’s trial court system. Trials are similar to the criminal justice system, where both sides present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. An abusive sexual content charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years, and the indecent viewing charge has a maximum of one year. If the judge ran the sexual abuse charges consecutively, he would face a maximum of 336 years in prison, McCaskill said.

His lawyer, Robert Capovilla, said they intend to fight every allegation until the jury reaches a verdict.

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