An Army gynecologist has been charged with secretly recording more than 40 of his patients at Fort Hood in Texas, military prosecutors said on Tuesday, as members of Congress expressed concerns that the Army was slow to stop his misconduct.
The doctor, Maj. Blaine McGraw, 47, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, has been charged with 54 counts of indecent visual recording, five counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, one count of willful disobedience of a superior officer and one count of making a false official statement, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said the charges covered crimes that the doctor committed against 44 victims this year. Most of the offenses happened during medical exams at Darnall Army Medical Center, although one victim, who was not a patient, was secretly recorded at a private home near Fort Hood, the office said. It said the investigation remained open.
Major McGraw worked at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu from 2019 until 2023, when he started at Fort Hood, military officials said.
Fort Hood said it suspended Major McGraw and revoked his access to medical records on Oct. 17, the same day a patient made allegations against him.
Tripler Army Medical Center said in November that it was contacting the doctor’s former patients, and Fort Hood said it had sent letters to over 1,400 former patients at Darnall Army Medical Center and had created a hotline for them to report misconduct.
Major McGraw has been held since Dec. 2 in pretrial confinement at the Bell County Jail, in Belton, Texas, after Fort Hood officials accused him of violating the “conditions of liberty imposed by his commander.” The base did not elaborate.
Major McGraw’s lawyer, Daniel Conway, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, told NBC News on Tuesday that he had not yet seen the charging documents.
“I am aware that they cover non-contact recording allegations,” Mr. Conway said. “We expect the charges will cover offenses for which Dr. McGraw was cooperative with law enforcement. We continue to be cooperative while maintaining that no non-medically touching occurred.”
A lawsuit filed by a military spouse, identified only as Jane Doe, filed last month in District Court in Bell County, Texas, accused the doctor of secretly recording her on Oct. 14 during what she believed would be a routine pelvic exam.
While in the exam room, the suit said, Major McGraw pretended to take a call from a nurse on his phone and then slipped the phone into his breast pocket, with the camera facing outward and recording. After conducting the pelvic exam, the doctor suggested that he perform a breast exam, the lawsuit said.
On Oct. 17, the lawsuit said, the woman received an unexpected call from Army investigators, who informed her that they had recovered images of her body on Major McGraw’s phone from her Oct. 14 appointment.
The woman’s lawsuit also accused Major McGraw of groping her under the guise of medical treatment and of making inappropriate comments about her body and calling her after hours in an effort to “cultivate personal familiarity.”
The suit said that, years earlier, at least one patient at Tripler Medical Center had filed a complaint accusing Major McGraw of improperly recording her pelvic exam, but the chain of command there dismissed the complaint and allowed him to continue practicing.
“The Army knew,” but failed to stop Major McGraw’s misconduct, the lawsuit says. “By doing so, the Army gave cover to a predator in uniform.”
Representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, along with more than 50 other congressional Democrats, sent a letter on Monday asking the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General to investigate reports that Army leaders had ignored or dismissed complaints about Major McGraw, dating back to his time at Tripler.
“The allegations against Dr. McGraw are horrific, and the Army’s delayed response is unacceptable,” Ms. Trahan said in a statement. “These women deserve to know that when they report abuse, they will be protected, believed and taken seriously.”
The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division said this month that its inquiry, both on and off Fort Hood, was extensive and included hundreds of interviews and a review of over half a terabyte of digital media.
The under secretary of the Army, Mike Obadal, and the Army surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Mary K. Izaguirre, visited Darnall Army Medical Center on Tuesday, the same day military prosecutors announced the charges against Major McGraw.
“We are looking closely at how training is conducted, how standards are enforced and how leaders ensure that policies are being followed,” General Izaguirre said in a statement. She said the Army was committed to making changes “quickly and transparently to maintain faith with soldiers and families.”
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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