An entrance sign to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. (U.S. Air Force)
The Army doctor charged with molesting 42 patients will be arraigned for court-martial next month at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, the Army said Tuesday.
Maj. Michael Stockin, 38, is charged with 48 counts of abusive sexual contact and five counts of indecent viewing, according to the court docket for the case. The 53 charges involve 42 individuals, some of whom were abused more than once, said Michelle McCaskill, an Army spokeswoman.
“The defense team is very much looking forward to fighting this case on behalf of a military officer who we believe is falsely accused,” said Robert Capovilla, Stockin’s attorney.
The next court hearing for Stockin is scheduled for Feb. 23 and he will be the first soldier prosecuted under a new law that went into effect Dec. 28 that removes commanding officers’ traditional power to block, review, direct, or overturn courts-martial, according to Army officials.
Critics of the military justice system have argued commanders often squelched complaints from female service members about sexual harassment and assault or offered higher-ranking officers the chance to accept demotion and resign from service in lieu of a trial.
Under legislation passed by Congress last year, a special counsel will handle cases in 13 criminal areas, including murder, kidnapping and most sex crimes. Sexual harassment will be added to the list in 2025.
Most of the charges against Stockin are for abusive sexual contact, the least severe of four types of sex crimes that include rape, sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact. Abusive sexual contact is defined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice as “touching of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person.”
Each charge carries a penalty of up to seven years confinement, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.
Indecent viewing is looking at the private areas of a person without their consent, knowledge or ability to consent (such as being asleep or under sedation), according to the UCMJ.
The maximum penalty for indecent viewing is confinement for up to a year, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge.
Stockin joined the Army in 2013 and served at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He deployed to Iraq for six months.
Stockin arrived at Madigan Medical Center at Lewis-McChord in June 2019, where he served as an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist.
The investigation into Stockin’s actions dates to at least February 2022, when he was ordered to stop seeing patients and assigned administrative duties.
Attorneys representing some of the alleged victims have filed civil lawsuits against Stockin and the Army, alleging he fondled their genitals as part of what Stockin claimed was a common and necessary medical examination technique.
