A law firm intends to bring legal action on behalf of multiple victims against the U.S. Army following new accusations of sexual misconduct against a doctor performing medical exams of female patients.
The Army announced last week that they are currently investigating new allegations of sexual misconduct against a medical provider at the Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center (CRDAMC) in Fort Hood, Texas. The identity of the doctor, who has been suspended from his position and is no longer providing services to patients, remains unknown.
“Fort Hood officials are unable to provide additional information at this time on any specifics involved to protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of those who may be affected,” a Fort Hood official told Military.com.
According to an official statement issued Oct. 28, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) began an investigation within hours of a patient’s allegations. Fort Hood officials are contacting all patients seen by the doctor during their tenure at CRDAMC, even if there’s no indication to believe they were affected by the alleged misconduct.
Those individuals will be provided with a number for a dedicated CRDAMC call center to answer their questions and provide additional resources should they require them.
“We understand patients may feel distressed and anxious about this issue, and we encourage beneficiaries to contact CRDAMC for additional questions,” the statement reads.
Military.com reached out to Army CID for comment.
Sexual Misconduct 'Just as Prevalent in Military'
The new allegations and ensuing investigation come roughly 10 months after another Army doctor, Maj. Michael Stockin, 39, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing male servicemembers.
Christine Dunn, co-managing partner of the national civil rights and public interest law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight’s Washington, D.C. office, represents 45 of Stockin’s victims and has filed Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) complaints on their behalf.
This case, according to Dunn, involves a doctor accused of filming what she believes to be only female patients during the course of the examinations of their genitals, without their consent or knowledge. There are expected “dozens of victims.”
The former federal prosecutor called cases of a doctor or medical provider sexually abusing a patient part of a “real epidemic” nationwide.
“It's just as prevalent in the military,” Dunn said. “It's even more insidious, I think, in the military because doctors generally—they get a lot of trust from their patients, right? You trust your medical providers to know what's best for you and to take care of you. So, it's such an egregious violation of trust when a medical provider does this.
“But adding on top of that, the fact that it’s someone in the military is an even greater violation of trust. I mean, for these military families, being a part of the military is such a fundamental part of their identity so to have their trust betrayed in this way by a military doctor is even more egregious.”
Dunn is also representing more than two dozen survivors of sexual assault at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.
“I don't think something like this happens to so many victims without a failing on the part of the institution without some negligence in the supervision and the policies and procedures, and I think as this case unfolds you're gonna find that there was a lot of negligence on the part of the army that allowed this to happen,” she said.
Tort Claims Let Victims 'Call Shots'
Dunn, the co-chair of her firm’s Sexual Violence, Title IX and Victims’ Rights Practice Group, along with associate Jillian Seymour, plan to file tort claims as part of the Fort Hood case that under federal statute permit individuals to bring legal claims against federal agencies for civil violations committed by agency personnel.
Asked why tort claims are the best legal avenue in cases such as these, Dunn said she tells her clients who are victims of a crime that there are two avenues: There's the criminal side where you are a victim and you have certain rights, but you're not a party.
“You don't get to call the shots, you don't get to direct how things go,” she said.
And then there's the civil side where any crime victim can bring civil claims against either the individual perpetrator or the larger institution, the U.S. Army in this instance.
“There, the victim does get to call the shots so I think it's really empowering for a lot of victims of crime to proceed on the civil side because they get to have a real say in how things proceed,” Dunn said. “I sometimes do cases against individual perpetrators, but more often I do them against the larger institutions because I really do believe that holding institutions accountable is the best way to create real systemic change that has the power to keep other people safe.
“So here, yes, the perpetrator deserves to be held accountable, and that will happen in the criminal case.”
It’s not just the accused medical provider at the heart of legal remedies, however.
“The Army also needs to be held accountable,” she added. “This doesn't happen to so many people without failing on the part of the Army. The Army has a duty to keep its patients at these military hospitals reasonably safe, and they fail here.
“How do you hold an institution like the Army accountable? The only real way to do that is through the Federal Tort Claims Act. What they did was a tort, they were negligent.”
Dunn, who currently represents two victims associated with this case and ongoing investigation, called the tort process “challenging” and timely.
Essentially, any victims who file complaints have to wait six months or perhaps longer for the Army to investigate. Then, they deny claims which could lead to lawsuits, or they will attempt to negotiate a settlement. your claim, in which case you can go file a lawsuit.
“After six months, you could sort of demand that the Army make a decision,” Dunn said. “I always think that it's prudent to try and discuss settlement and resolution if that's a realistic possibility.”
Stockin Fallout
On Jan. 15, 2025, Stockin was sentenced to 164 months in prison by a military judge at the Cascade Court Complex, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He was dismissed from the Army, lost his medical license, and was forced to forfeit all pay and allowances.
The ex-Army anesthesiologist's charges stemmed from an investigation into multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with patients in February 2022, which led to Stockin’s suspension from patient care and reassignment to administrative duties.
“The Stockin case is the most similar case I've done [to Fort Hood] because it's also an Army doctor,” Dunn said. “There's a lot of similarities.”
On Jan. 16, 2024, almost a year to the day Stockin was sentenced, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel referred 52 charges and specifications, stemming from allegations from 41 male patients treated between 2019 and 2022.
Stockin pleaded guilty to 41 specifications, 36 for abusive sexual contact and five for indecent viewing.
Anyone who received care at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center and has questions or concerns can contact Dunn at (202) 499-5214, or at cdunn@sanfordheisler.com. They can also contact their legal team by completing an online intake form found here.
