A Joint Base Lewis-McChord doctor was sentenced Wednesday to more than 13 years in prison after pleading guilty last week to three dozen counts of sexual abuse against male patients he saw as an anesthesiologist and pain-management specialist.
Maj. Michael Stockin admitted to 36 counts of abusive sexual contact and five of indecent viewing, defined as wrongfully viewing a person’s private area. Forty-one military patients accused him of wrongdoing between 2019 and 2022, including asking them to remove clothing and fondling or staring at their genitals for no apparent medical reasons during uncomfortable exams.
Stockin, 39, had been assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center since July 2019.
For each of the 41 counts, military Judge Col. Larry Babin on Wednesday sentenced Stockin to four months, leading to a total sentence of more than 13-1/2 years — the maximum term under a plea deal that Stockin entered into with Army prosecutors in September.
Stockin could have faced fewer than 10 years in prison under the plea deal. Prior to the agreement, he was potentially looking at more than 330 years behind bars, The News Tribune previously reported.
Stockin wore a blue Army service uniform and didn’t appear to react strongly during the brief hearing held inside JBLM’s Cascade Court Complex.
“Major Stockin took full responsibility for his actions, and he made no excuses,” attorney Robert Capovilla, who represented Stockin, said in a statement. “The Defense hopes and prays that the victims and Major Stockin will finally be able to heal and to move forward with their lives.”
Stockin will be dismissed from the Army and, as a collateral consequence of his federal conviction, will lose his medical license, according to the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
During Stockin’s court-martial that began early last week, 22 of the 41 victims testified about the trauma they endured due to his abuse, the office said. In a statement, prosecutors lauded the victims’ perseverance and bravery.
“The resilience of the victims in this case should be celebrated. They have been living with the trauma that has come from Maj. Stockin’s actions for years, and the last 16 months of litigation on the way to this court-martial has not been easy,” said Maj. Ryan Keeter, lead prosecutor for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Stockin was initially charged with 23 counts of abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in August 2023 following an Army investigation. The number of counts referred to prosecutors climbed to 52 by January 2024.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division spent hundreds of hours investigating the case, according to Capt. Bryanna Beauchamp, a prosecutor in the I Corps Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.
Although the court-martial has concluded, attorneys representing victims suggested the matter was far from over.
After Wednesday’s hearing, attorney Ryan Guilds told reporters in a hallway outside the courtroom that there were broad questions that remain unanswered. Those questions included what the Army knew and whether it had fully investigated Stockin’s behavior outside of JBLM. Stockin was previously assigned to medical centers in Honolulu and Maryland and had been deployed to Iraq from October 2020 to February 2021, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
“There are not just 41 victims here,” Guilds said. “There are dozens and dozens more.”
Attorney Christine Dunn previously said she has filed federal tort claims on behalf of 22 clients, not all of whom were included in the criminal case. A tort claim typically precedes a lawsuit. She said Wednesday that the Army must be held accountable for allegedly allowing the abuse to occur.
“Dr. Stockin and the Army failed our clients and the other victims, emotionally scarring them for life,” Dunn said in a statement.
Stockin will serve his prison sentence in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said. He’ll be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to federal and state registration requirements upon his release.
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