U.S. army OB-GYN pleads not guilty to secretly recording patient exams

A U.S. army doctor accused of video recording patient exams pleaded not guilty to several counts of sexual assault and related charges in a military criminal case at a Texas court on Wednesday.

Dr. Blaine McGraw, an OB-GYN at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood , is charged with sexual assault, conduct unbecoming of an officer, indecent recording, willful disobedience of a superior officer and making a false statement, among others, according to a Fort Hood news release .

McGraw faces nine charges in total and 272 specifications of sexual assault, including 66 specifications of indecent recording and 91 specifications of assault consummated by a battery, that are alleged to have occurred on numerous occasions between 2021 and 2026.

McGraw was charged in December after being suspended from his post over sexual assault allegations brought in late October and was subsequently under investigation by the U.S. army, according to a statement from Fort Hood.

“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) began an investigation within hours of a patient’s allegations against this former medical provider,” it said at the time.

In a separate federal tort claims act administrative complaint filed by a former patient of McGraw in November, referred to as Jane Doe 1, he is accused of performing unnecessary procedures, making crude remarks and violating army medical protocols that require nursing staff to be present during examinations; a statement outlining the basis of that claim, which was filed in Bell County in November, reads.

It also accuses army leadership of allowing McGraw to continue practising despite receiving sexual misconduct complaints for years and alleges that McGraw recorded dozens of patients during medical procedures and engaged in “improper sexual touching” under the guise of medical care during his tenure at the base and another army medical centre in Hawaii.

Jane Doe’s lawyer, Andrew Cobos, told NBC in November that his client has been married to an active-duty officer with more than 20 years of service, and that he is representing more than 45 women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by McGraw.

A subsequent investigation by The Carlson Law Firm , which is representing former patients who reported misconduct and are seeking monetary compensation through civil claims, says the U.S. army has reached out to more than 1,400 former patients as part of its ongoing probe into McGraw.

“Our investigation has determined that Dr. Blaine McGraw secretly photographed or recorded patients during intimate obstetrical/gynecological exams at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center,” its website says, adding that alleged victims have reported that his phone contained images and videos taken during breast and pelvic exams without patient permission.

“At least one of our clients reported that Dr. McGraw called her cell phone the day after her appointment in what seemed to be an attempt to form a personal relationship with her,” the law firm said.

Late last year, the U.S.