Some US Army veterans shared their alleged encounters with a US Army doctor accused of sexually abusing at least 42 male veterans, CBS News reported Thursday.
The veterans, whose names were withheld, accused Major Michael Stockin of betraying their trust and leaving them deeply wounded rather than healing them, in their interviews reportedly made by the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division and obtained by CBS News.
“He said, ‘No, I need you to drop trou,'” one of the alleged victims said in the interview footage. “I’m thinking to myself, like, What the hell is this for? And I’m here for my neck.”
“It’s definitely not normal,” said another in the footage.
“I feel like a fucking victim,” another added, the footage showed.
Major Stockin, a pain management anesthesiologist at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington, faces over 50 counts of abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing involving 42 male patients and spanning over two years, CBS News reported.
Dr. Stockin allegedly “forced [victims] to disrobe unnecessarily during their appointments, and then with his bare hands and no chaperone present fondled the patients’ genitals … between 2019 and 2022 … under the guise of conducting nerve sensory examinations or administering injections for lower back pain,” the law firm representing seven victims, Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLC, said in a case summary.
Two retired veterans reportedly spoke on condition of anonymity to CBS News for fear of retaliation. “He would take a knee and that’s where he would kind of conduct his examinations,” one told CBS News, according to the footage. “Everything was pretty much mid-calf to waist level.”
“When you say waist, you mean groin?” CBS interviewer Jonathan Vigliotti asked.
“Yes,” the alleged victim replied.
“Myself and Dr. Stockin were left alone in the room. He first checked my shoulder and then asked me to stand up,” the other, who reportedly had chronic shoulder pain, told CBS News. “Dr. Stockin, he was face-level with my groin and he started touching my genitals.” (RELATED: Army Investigating Unreported Sexual Abuse Against Minor At On-Base Child Care Center)
Each of the two veterans had served for over 20 years in the Army and had seen combat three times, according to the report. Their attorney, Ryan Guilds, told CBS News that “the scope and scale of [the alleged abuses] is unprecedented,” said he was convinced there would be hundreds of alleged victims. Guilds reportedly accused the Army of failing to protect the victims.
The Army reportedly said the investigation would be open through trial and that it was willing to investigate additional allegations if they appeared.
Male servicemembers are less likely to report sexual assault than females, potentially because of the fear of disbelief, blame and scorn, as well as because of a lack of awareness that their experience amounts to sexual assault, the Department of Defense said in a 2016 report. The US Air Force corroborated the assertion, citing society’s view of masculinity.
Dr. Stockin, suspended from patient care, faces 300 years behind bars if convicted, according to CBS News.