Army Maj. Michael Stockin arrives at his court-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., on Jan. 10, 2025. (KOMO News)
Maj. Michael Stockin, an Army doctor, was sentenced Wednesday to 164 months in prison for sexually abusing 41 patients under the guise of providing medical care at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Col. Larry Babin, the military judge of the trial, said he had deliberated more than 12 hours before reaching his decision to sentence Stockin, 39, to the maximum amount of prison time allowed under a plea deal made with Army prosecutors.
Babin also ordered Stockin forfeit all future pay and benefits and be dismissed from the Army — the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for officers.
As a result of the conviction, Stockin will lose his medical license and be required to register as a sex offender. As a felon, he’ll be barred in many states from voting or owning firearms.
Stockin showed no emotion Wednesday in court as Babin issued his ruling. Stockin, dressed in a dark blue service uniform with a fresh high-and-tight haircut, was accompanied by his attorneys to the back of the courthouse where military police were waiting to take him into custody.
The 15-minute court session was a short, sharp end to a three-year investigation and prosecution of what Army legal officials have said is the largest known case of sexual abuse in U.S. military history. Twenty-two of Stockin’s 41 known victims testified or gave statements in the court-martial.
“The resilience of the victims in this case should be celebrated,” said Maj. Ryan Keeter, the Army’s lead prosecutor in the trial. “They have been living with the trauma that has come from Maj. Stockin’s actions for years.”
Robert Capovilla, the lead defense attorney, issued a statement after the trial noting Stockin faced a maximum sentence of more than 250 years in prison had he not agreed to the negotiated plea deal.
“Major Stockin took full responsibility for his actions, and he made no excuses,” Capovilla said. “The defense hopes and prays that the victims and Maj. Stockin will finally be able to heal and to move forward with their lives.”
Stockin was taken into custody by military police and was being held at the Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Lewis-McChord, according to base officials.
Stockin’s conviction is automatically sent for review to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals at Fort Belvoir, Va., said Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army Office of the Special Trial Counsel.
If the conviction is upheld, Stockin would then be dismissed from the Army.
“Once service members begin post-trial confinement, they are an ‘inmate’ and no longer receive the privileges associated with their rank,” McCaskill said.
Stockin joined the Army in 2013 and previously was assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He also served a six-month deployment in Iraq.
Stockin was assigned to Lewis-McChord in 2019. After complaints about sexually abusive behavior, he was removed from seeing patients in February 2022.
Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Army Maj. Michael Stockin, a pain management doctor at the hospital, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 41 service members under the guise of medical treatment. (U.S. Army)
An 18-month Army investigation led to 23 charges against Stockin in August 2023. The charges expanded to 54 by January 2024. A two-month trial on the charges was scheduled for January 2025.
But a plea deal was reached in September 2024 in which Stockin agreed to plead guilty to 36 counts of sexually abusive contact for fondling patients’ genitals during medical appointments. He also pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent viewing — telling patients to disrobe and expose their genitals.
Stockin had agreed to be tried by a judge alone, waiving his right to have his fate decided by a panel of officers serving as a jury.
The plea deal limited the range of the prison sentence that the judge could impose to a minimum of 118 months and a maximum of 164 months.
The charges stated Stockin acted “with intent to arouse and gratify his sexual desire by making a fraudulent representation that the sexual contact served a medical purpose.”
Ryan Guilds, a lawyer representing seven victims in the court-martial case, said his clients felt the judge’s decision to give Stockin the maximum sentence “sends the right message.”
“Maj. Stockin showed distain in the way he treated the Army and the uniform that he should have been honored to wear,” he said.
But Guilds said the Pentagon still needs to pursue a thorough investigation into how Stockin was able to molest patients for so long before action was taken to remove him from duty.
“What did the Army, the medical professionals, the ones who are responsible for providing a safe environment — what did they know, what did they do?” he asked. “The investigations have been in skips and starts. I have deep concern that the overall process is broken.”
Several former patients have filed federal claims seeking $5 million from the Army for its failure to properly manage Stockin and allowing his crimes to continue after initial complaints.
As of Wednesday, at least 26 patients had filed claims, totaling $130 million. The claims are the first step in gaining the legal right to sue the federal government in civil court. Additional patients could file claims.
“Stockin has been sentenced for his role — now the Army must also be held accountable,” said Christine Dunn, an attorney who represents some of the victims pursing civil claims against the government.
The Lewis-McChord correctional facility is considered a medium-security prison and is used for pretrial confinement and service members serving five years or less for their crimes, according to an Army profile of the prison on the Defense Department website.
Male service members convicted of crimes with sentences of 10 years or more are sent to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., according to the Defense Department of Defense website on military criminal procedures.
Fort Leavenworth has served as the site of the main U.S. military prison since 1874.
