A West Virginia doctor sexually abused a number of his patients over several years — including disabled vets — federal prosecutors alleged Thursday.
Dr. Jonathan Yates was arrested Thursday morning.
He carried out the abuse from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Beckley, in the southwestern section of the state, beginning in 2018, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Yates’ first victim, a 42-year-old who suffers from a “service-connected disability,” told investigators that the doctor groped his genitals, and when he asked Yates to stop, the doctor refused — and smacked him on the butt after a second request to cut it out, court papers say.
Yates then allegedly cracked the veteran’s neck in a way that made him go numb so the doctor could carry out the abuse.
“He was not supposed to do this,” the accuser said in a witness statement attached to the complaint.
“I made it clear from the beginning of this session that he was not to crack my neck. I was in shock, could not even speak.”
The doctor again groped the veteran in the locked examination room, according to the complaint.
“Immediately after Dr. Yates immobilized veteran 1 with the neck crack and while veteran 1 was unable to resist, Dr. Yates physically rolled veteran 1 back onto his stomach pulled down veteran 1’s underwear without permission,” the complaint states.
After the accuser was able to leave, he said he “went to the gas station bathroom and used multiple sanitary wipes because I felt dirty after that encounter,” according to his statement.
Yates allegedly abused at least two other veterans at the medical center in a similar manner, including one who had sought treatment because he was disabled due to posttraumatic stress disorder.
The doctor also allegedly told other health-care workers at the facility about the abuse — even lamenting that he couldn’t go further with his victims.
“I’m not able to explore the things I’d like to with some of the guys because I’m a married man and my wife wouldn’t understand,” Yates told another doctor who worked with him, according to the complaint.
Yates did not immediately return a request for comment.