An undated photo of an entrance sign to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. (Abner Guzman/Air Force)
An Army doctor at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash, was charged this week in up to 23 incidents of sexual assault and indecent conduct, Army officials at the base said Thursday.
Maj. Michael Stockin, 37, an anesthesiologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at the installation, was formally charged Tuesday, according to Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, a JBLM spokeswoman.
"The general nature of the charges include abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," she said.
The charges cap 18 months since Stockin was ordered to cease contact with patients in February 2022.
Bocanegra declined to release the charge sheet against Stockin or whether all the allegations were related to his time at JBLM. She did say Stockin has not been arrested and he is performing administrative duties. However, the Army does not provide details about ongoing investigations, she said.
"The charges will now be reviewed for legal sufficiency by an independent officer at a pretrial preliminary hearing pursuant to federal law," Bocanegra said. "Charges are merely accusations, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty."
She did not have a timeline for when a decision on the charges would be announced.
Stockin has hired Robert Capovilla, a former Army officer with the judge advocate general’s corps whose firm in Woodstock, Ga., includes other former military lawyers. The firm's website promotes defense against accusations of sexual misconduct by military service members as an area of expertise.
Capovilla on Thursday criticized the Army for what he said were possible leaks of investigative information to the media and pressure put on at least one potential witness to refuse to talk to defense investigators.
"Charges alone are not evidence," he said. "We expect the Army to ensure that Maj. Stockin’s constitutional right to a fair defense is honored at all stages of the process.”
Capovilla said defense lawyers have been given little opportunity to review the investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Stockin has served in the Army since May 2013, the service said. He deployed to Iraq from October 2020 to February 2021. Other assignments include Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu from June 2013 to July 2014 and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., from July 2014 to July 2019.
He has been assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center at JBLM since July 2019.
The allegations were first reported Aug. 26 by The Washington Post.
Ryan Guilds, an attorney who said he represented several alleged victims who accused Stockin, told the Post that he was “deeply concerned” about a lack of communication from the Army about the case.
