Former Tripler gynecologist charged with secretly recording patients in Texas

COURTESY BELL COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Army Maj. Blaine McGraw

An Army gynecologist has been charged with secretly recording more than 40 of his patients at Fort Hood in Texas, military prosecutors said 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.

McGraw worked at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu from 2019 until 2023, when he started at Fort Hood, military officials said.

(The investigation originally focused on Fort Hood, but on Nov. 21, Tripler officials announced that they were notifying 1,600 patients whom McGraw saw in Hawaii.

(In a letter, Tripler’s director Col. William Bimson the investigation “has expanded to include Hawaii” and that “the provider in question has been removed from all patient care duties, and we are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation.”)

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Fort Hood said it suspended McGraw and revoked his access to medical records on Oct. 17, the same day a patient made allegations against him. Officials said they had sent letters to more than 1,400 former patients at Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center and had created a hotline for them to report misconduct.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., along with more than 50 other congressional Democrats, sent a letter Monday asking the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General to investigate reports that Army leaders had ignored or dismissed complaints about McGraw, dating back to his time at Tripler.

(Hirono said in a statement today that at least 10 patients whom McGraw saw in Hawaii when was a resident at Tripler are among over 80 women who recently joined a lawsuit alleging that McGraw made sexual advances, directed lewd comments toward them, and secretly recorded patients at Ford Hood and Tripler.

(“No woman should feel unsafe receiving medical care, especially during sensitive and private health services. Yet, far too many survivors have come forward with their experiences of alleged exploitation and abuse by a doctor who reportedly violated not just the basic principles of medical care and human decency, but also the expected conduct of a U.S. Army officer and physician,” Hirono said. “The Department of Defense and U.S. Army must take accountability for their failure to rapidly respond to servicemembers and patient complaints. While nothing can reverse the harm reported by patients, a comprehensive investigation into this alleged misconduct, resulting in stronger protections for patients, is necessary to ensure that no one experiences abuse by our military health system again.”)

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.

McGraw’s lawyer, Daniel Conway, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment today, told NBC News on Tuesday that he had not yet seen the charging documents.

“I am aware that they cover noncontact recording allegations,” 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 nonmedically 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 Oct. 14 during what she believed would be a routine pelvic exam.

While in the exam room, the suit said, 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 McGraw’s phone from her Oct. 14 appointment.

The woman’s lawsuit also accused 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 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 McGraw’s misconduct, the lawsuit says. “By doing so, the Army gave cover to a predator in uniform.”

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 McGraw.

“We are looking closely at how training is conducted, how standards are enforced and how leaders ensure that policies are being followed,” Izaguirre said in a statement. She said the Army was committed to making changes “quickly and transparently to maintain faith with soldiers and families.”

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Honolulu Star-Advertiser staff contributed to this The New York Times article.

© 2025 The New York Times Company

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