Additional charges have reportedly been filed against a United States military doctor in what could be one of the military's largest sexual abuse cases in years.
Maj. Michael Stockin is at the center of the case where at least 39 alleged victims have accused the physician of improper touching, Army officials told CBS News.
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The alleged victims include former patients of Stockin, who has declared his innocence. That number rose from 23, when in August, the Washington Post reported the investigation as a "sprawling" case, with an Army spokeswoman stating the charges included "abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing," both violating military law.
The additional charges were reportedly added to Stockin's case on Oct. 17, after more than a year of investigating. Military officials told CBS News that the investigation is ongoing, and they are unsure if additional victims could come forward.
The 37-year-old anesthesiologist worked at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, since July 2019, according to PCVA Law, which posted "A Call for Witnesses: Survivors of Major Michael Stockin" online alongside a description of the case. The major was reportedly barred from seeing patients in February of last year, presumably when the investigation into him began.
An attorney for Stockin noted that the case is still at an early stage. "The Defense Team is aware that 17 alleged victims have been added to the charge sheet in this case," Robert Capovilla said. "In the interim, we fully expect that the United States Army will honor Major Stockin's constitutional right to a fair trial. Rest assured that our dedicated Defense Team will thoroughly investigate every single allegation that has been made against our client, and we are confident that the truth will come out in the courtroom."
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A Pentagon report released in April found that 8,942 reports of sexual assault were made to the Defense Department in fiscal 2022, up from the previous year and following a trend of reports generally increasing year by year. The number was at 3,327 in 2010.
Amid increasing numbers, the DOD made it a priority to protect service members from sexual assault. In the Pentagon's 2021 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, the department found that the number of female troops forced into unwanted sexual contact hit a record high.