Local soldiers file new claims over sex abuse at JBLM

Twenty men have filed federal tort claims against the U.S. Army over sexual abuse allegations involving a doctor that previously worked at Joint Base Lewis McChord.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Twenty men have filed tort claims against the U.S. Army, over sexual abuse claims tied to a medical doctor that previously worked at Joint Base Lewis McChord.

The filings on Monday come on the heels of Doctor Michael Stockin pleading guilty to multiple charges, which led to a 13-year sentence on sex abuse charges.

Stockin, as previously reported by FOX 13, sexually assaulted patients under the guise of medical treatment. According to new documents filed by alleged victims, Stockin would force patients to disrobe and fondled the soldiers’ genitalia without a chaperone present.

"People felt emboldened by seeing so many soldiers talking about what happened to them, and they came forward," said Christine Dunn, a lawyer with Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight. "I think there are also a lot of people who thought Stockin didn’t get a high enough sentence. That the sentence wasn’t commensurate with the harm he caused and they wanted to do more, so I had a lot of people reach out to me to say, ‘more needs to be done.’"

What they're saying:

Dunn told FOX 13 that her office was flooded with phone calls in the wake of Stockin’s guilty plea in January.

She is currently representing 42 John Does, though she believes more victims remain. A number of victims that were involved in the court martial that ultimately led to Stockin’s guilty plea are not involved with the civil filings that have been made, however, Dunn said she thinks that the victim pool extends beyond those men.

What we know:

Stockin was given the maximum sentence allowed after pleading guilty to sexually abusing 41 former patients (soldiers) at Madigan Army Hospital, located at JBLM. It is considered one of the largest sex abuse scandals in the history of the U.S. military.

Military sexual assault is underreported, particularly among male survivors, according to Protect Our Defenders – a nonprofit that is working to end sexual violence within the military branch.

"The Stockin case exposes the pervasive failures in the military’s approach to addressing sexual violence," said Josh Connolly, Protect our Defenders senior vice president.

"The appalling number of victims serves as a smoking gun, highlighting the military’s complicity or gross negligence that allowed these crimes to persist. Male survivors continue to be marginalized by a broken system that retraumatizes victims and erodes trust in military leadership."

What's next:

The federal tort claims filed today add to the long legal case being formed against the U.S. Army for it’s part in the Stockin scandal.

Dunn told FOX 13 that she had previously been told by Army representatives that the criminal trial would have to play out before the tort claims would be addressed, giving some hope that the civil side of the case will now speed up.

The new cases filed on Monday have doubled the number of men that have utilized Dunn’s office to seek accountability, or monetary payments for the harm they lived through. The first tort claim was filed in 2023.

In early January, the military noted it was still investigating the number of claims that have been made against it, including the federal tort claims that were filed specifically against the Army.

A spokesperson for the military noted they must review all potential litigation tied to Stockin to ensure they have legal sufficiency before moving forward to investigate the allegations themselves.

The Source: Information in this story is from Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Protect our Defenders, the U.S. Army and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.