CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former doctor employed by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Beckley will be sentenced Monday for sexually abusing patients during exams.
Jonathan Yates, 51, of Bluefield, Virginia, pleaded guilty last September to three counts of depriving veterans of their civil rights under color of law by sexually abusing them.
The sentencing before U.S. Judge Frank Volk is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Beckley.
Yates admitted to rubbing the genitals of two veterans and digitally penetrating a third person’s rectum without any legitimate medical purpose. The veterans were seeking treatment for chronic pain through osteopathic manipulative therapy, yet Yates’ actions caused additional pain.
Yates was indicted in May 2020 for sexually molesting six patients from September 2018 to February 2019.
He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.