Maj. Michael Stockin has pleaded guilty to three dozen sex-abuse counts after 41 men accused the Joint Base Lewis-McChord doctor of misconduct in what a human-rights group had referred to as the largest military sexual-assault scandal in recent history.
Stockin, who was transferred to administrative duties following an Army investigation in 2022, was accused of sexually abusing military patients who came to see him for treatment as an anesthesiologist and pain-management specialist.
On Tuesday, he admitted to 36 counts of abusive sexual contact and five of indecent viewing, according to Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. Indecent viewing is defined as wrongfully viewing a person’s private area.
Stockin, 39, pleaded guilty during the first day of his trial at JBLM after entering into a plea agreement with Army prosecutors in September, McCaskill said.
A military court accepted the plea Friday, according to attorney Ryan Guilds, who’s serving as a pro bono counsel retained by seven of the victims.
The sentencing phase of the trial, where Stockin faces up to about 13-1/2 years in prison, is expected to continue into next week, according to Guilds. Prior to the plea agreement, Stockin was potentially looking at more than 330 years behind bars, The News Tribune previously reported.
Two attorneys representing Stockin didn’t return messages Friday. Army and JBLM spokespersons referred inquiries seeking comment to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. A message left for a spokesperson at Madigan Army Medical Center, where Stockin has been assigned since July 2019, was not returned.
Stockin was initially charged with 23 counts of abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in August 2023. By January 2024, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel had referred 52 counts for prosecution, stemming from alleged wrongdoing between 2019 and 2022. Stockin originally pleaded not guilty in April.
A military-oriented human rights group called Protect Our Defenders Foundation described Stockin’s case in November 2023 as “historic” and “the largest military sexual assault scandal in recent history.”
In federal tort claims filed last year by attorney Christine Dunn, whose clientele includes victims in the criminal case, Stockin’s former patients said that he asked them to remove clothing and fondled or stared at their genitals for no apparent medical reasons during uncomfortable exams.
Dunn said Friday that she filed claims thus far on behalf of 22 clients, some of whom were alleged victims not part of the charged case. Dunn planned to file more claims, she said, noting that six other people who have accused Stockin of abuse had reached out to her just this week.
A tort claim is typically a precursor to a lawsuit.
“While this is a piece of getting justice, it’s only chapter one,” Dunn told The News Tribune in reference to the guilty plea. “And there’s more to come with respect to the Army.”
The Army still needed to be held accountable for what Dunn called its negligence and role in the abuse, she said, including in its job-candidate screening and doctor-patient supervisions. Dunn said that even more victims existed and she didn’t think that Stockin’s sentencing range was strong enough.
Victims spent years waiting for a resolution and dealing with the aftermath of “this predator’s extreme violation of trust,” according to Guilds.
“It is a trust he obtained through his rank, his status as a doctor, and the uniform he will now no longer be able to tarnish,” Guilds said, noting that many victims feel guilt and self-loathing and can’t move on. “It is my hope that today’s result will help them find peace. And feel at least a little justice was served.”