A US Army doctor was sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct charges stemming from allegations that he had abused dozens of men he was treating for pain management at Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Major Michael Stockin, an anesthesiologist and pain management doctor at Madigan Army Medical Center was given the maximum allowable sentence after he took a plea deal. A judge gave him four months of jail time for each of the 41 victims named in the case.
Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the US Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, told the Seattle Times that Stockin will be incarcerated at the Army’s prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and will be required to register as a sex offender.
Stockin pleaded guilty to 36 counts of abusive sexual contact and five counts of indecent viewing. All of the victims were active or former military members. All but one of the patients he treated were seeking pain management at the Army medical center. During the exams, he looked at and groped the genitals of the patients, which was not necessary for the treatments he was supposed to administer.
Military investigators began looking into Stockin in February 2022, and charged him after a year-long investigation in 2023. His victim count grew to 41 by January 2023, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
His guilty plea will conclude the criminal side of the trial, but a civil process is still ongoing. At least 22 people claiming to have been sexually abused by Stockin have filed a lawsuit against the Army and the Department of Defense, alleging that the US military is liable for the doctor’s misconduct.
During his criminal trial, some of his victims testified and described how their interactions with Stockton have colored their ongoing view of the US military.
“We are taught as young cadets, as young officers, that trust is the foundation of everything we do,” an Army captain said during the trial, according to the Seattle Times.
He said he now approaches those in the military “thinking that those above me, I can’t trust, that they don’t have my best interests at heart.”
The captain said he plans to submit his discharge papers soon to leave the armed services.
Major Ryan Keeter, who spearheaded the prosecution in Stockin’s case, praised the “resilience” of the victims.
“The resilience of the victims in this case should be celebrated,” he said. “They have been living with the trauma … for years, and the last 16 months of litigation on the way to trial have not been easy.”
Christine Dunn, an attorney who represented 21 of the victims, celebrated Stockin’s sentencing, but said she felt that “real justice requires holding the Army accountable for its role in allowing this to happen.”
“These brave soldiers are now riddled with anxiety and shame — many of them terrified to even seek medical attention,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn will also be representing clients suing in the civil case, which she said was “just getting started.”