BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A former Fort Hood doctor accused of secretly recording and sexually assaulting more than 80 women asked a Bell County court Friday to publicly reveal the identities of his accusers.
Army Major Blaine McGraw appeared in court and argued from a multi-page document that the names of the Jane Does accusing him of secretly recording them during exams should be made public. McGraw said he believes the names need to be in the public record to prevent defamation against him and to allow him to countersue.
When the judge asked what the purpose would be of making the names public, McGraw compared his case to other high-profile sexual abuse cases involving public figures where accusers were not anonymous. He also argued many accusers have already made themselves public through testimony and public appearances against him.
McGraw again denied the charges against him in court Friday. He said without the names, the women accusing him could be "talking to each other and #MeToo."
Prosecutors offered to provide McGraw the names under a protective order, which would keep the identities from being made public due to privacy concerns. The judge sided with that approach.
Kianna Zermeno of Cobos Law Firm, who represents the accusers, said the hearing centered on protecting her clients' ability to move forward with their claims.
"What this hearing boiled down to is protecting our client's rights to bring forward their claims. The women in this case had the courage to bring forward very serious and very personal allegations against Doctor McGraw, and we believe the court put the proper protections in place so this case could continue moving forward fairly," Zermeno said.
Zermeno also addressed the relationship between the civil case and McGraw's separate military criminal case.
"The criminal charges and the civil claims are two distinct cases. However, they do play in hand with one another, and we are continuing to stay informed," Zermeno said.
Clarissa Rivera of Daly and Black P.C. Law Firm, who also represents accusers, said her team is preparing aggressively.
"We're still in the very early stages of this case, but we're operating as if we are going to trial. So we're doing everything in our power to ensure that we are protecting our client's rights and that we have a very, very strong claim," Rivera said.
Prosecutors will have 30 days from Friday to provide McGraw with the identities of the Jane Does under the protective order.
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