Beckley VAMC settles sex abuse case
Jun. 13—A Beckley attorney secured a $10.5 million settlement from Beckley VA Medical Center, after 62 veterans reported that a doctor had sexually abused them.
Stephen New, a local attorney who has represented multiple former hospital clients, confirmed that 62 former patients of former doctor Jonathan Yates will each receive $180,000.
The settlement totals around $10.5 million.
Yates, of Bluefield, Va., had started working at the Beckley facility in April 2018.
In September 2019, after several veterans accused him of sexually abusing them during appointments, investigators launched a criminal investigation.
The doctor admitted to investigators that he had rubbed two veterans' genitals and that he had digitally penetrated a third veteran's rectum without any medical reason. The three veterans were Yates' patients and were suffering from chronic pain when they went to him seeking help.
Yates pleaded guilty to three felony counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and was sentenced to 25 years in prison and three years of supervised release in January.
New currently represents plaintiffs in civil cases against both Beckley ARH Hospital and Raleigh General Hospital, along with Dr. Zouhair Kabbara, who had privileges at both hospitals.
New's clients, including two girls who were 15 years old at the time of the alleged incidents, report Kabarra sexually harassed or sexually abused them while they were at the hospitals.
