WEST VIRGINIA
A federal grand jury in Charleston, West Virginia, this week returned a seven-count indictment charging Dr. Jonathan Yates, 51, with federal civil rights and abusive sexual contact offenses.
Yates, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who formerly worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Beckley, West Virginia, is charged with five counts of depriving veterans of their civil rights under
He was previously charged in a criminal complaint by depriving a veteran of his civil rights under the color of law, according to officials
The indictment alleges that between September 2018 and February 2019, while working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dr. Yates examined six male patients, identified in the indictment as Veterans One through Six, and sexually molested them during their appointments.
The indictment alleges that Yates temporarily immobilized two of the veterans – one by cracking his neck, and the other with the use of acupuncture needles – and sexually molested them while they were incapacitated.
The indictment also alleges that his abuses caused five of the veterans to suffer bodily injury.
This conduct, performed while Dr. Yates was acting under color of law in his capacity as a federal employee at the VAMC, deprived Veterans One through Five of their constitutional right to bodily integrity.
The indictment also alleges that Yates knowingly engaged in sexual contact with Veterans Two and Six without their consent.
Yates is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
If convicted, Yates is facing up to life in prison.