Indian Health Service: Pedophile Doctor Sexually Assaults Native American Boys (2016)

In 2016, an investigation began into the suspicions of a pedophile doctor, that worked for the Indian Health Service, which is a federal agency that provides healthcare for Native Americans. They hired Dr. Stanley Patrick Weber, a pediatrician. As soon as he was hired, they received numerous accusations about Weber. He had previously worked for a hospital in Browning, Montana, The Blackfeet hospital. While he was there, he would only see patients who were young boys. Typically within the age range of eight through fifteen.

The suspicions continued way past this. During a house check, safety officials found that Dr. Weber had an unusually weird amount of kids’ toys, candy, cookies and video games, even though he didn’t have any kids of his own. Then on top of that, the company received numerous calls from other co-workers stating that they would see little boys going into his house at late hours of the night, and sometimes they wouldn’t leave. Despite all of this, the Indian Health Service still didn’t get rid of Weber, or even investigate deeper into the suspicions. It wasn’t until a parent of a young boy, came up to his house and attacked him. Once that happened, the company didn’t fire, but they moved him to a different location. He was transferred to Pine Ridge in June of 1995.

His actions at Pine Ridge continued until 2015, when a tribal investigator started an investigation into Weber's' crimes. A week after this news broke, he resigned from the job. By 2018, Weber was found guilty of his sexual assault crimes in Montana. He is currently awaiting trial for his Indian Health Service crimes. 

The stakeholders involved in this case, consist of the pedophile himself Dr. Patrick Stanley Weber, the Indian Health Service, the CEO of The Indian Health Service, Wehnona Stabler, Bill Pourier the CEO of the Pine Ridge Hospital, the colleagues of Weber, Dan Foster and Mark Butterbrodt. Lastly it was the victims of Weber. This consist of Joe Four Horn, Henry Red Cloud and of course the family of the victims. 

When we look at how individualism relates to this case, we see a lot of aspects of it. For starters, the company Indian Health Service were clearly in the wrong. They broke the law by allowing this doctor to be a part of their company. You had a doctor with a long track record that you willingly hired. Then while he was under your company name, he sexually assaulted numerous Native American boys. Then once the company knew of this, they turned a blind eye to this and allowed him to continue to work for them. Completely unethical. 

As we look at how this applies to our case, we see how the company would not have been viewed as ethical in Utilitarianism eyes. For starters, the company did not help their patients maximize their happiness. They allowed for their patients to be sexually assaulted while they turned their eye to it. This isn’t something a Utilitarian person would do. The aim is to maximize happiness for all of the people impacted by the business’s actions. Their actions were to turn a blind eye while this doctor sexually assaulted their patients. 

The first principle of Kantianism is, “Act rationally, don’t break the rules to get what you want". This immediately raised a red flag with this case, as the Indian Health Service broke the law to get what they want. They knew what was happening, and allowed it to happen, so that they could get what they want, which was to have a doctor for their patients. The next principle of Kantianism is to, “help people make rational decisions". This is another example of how the company failed itself. It could have helped Dr. Weber get help. Hold him accountable for his actions and helping to make better decisions with his life. Continuing with the principles, the third one is to respect people and their autonomy and individual needs. Lastly, is, “to be motivated by good will, seeking to do what is right because it is right". The company clearly didn’t do what was right in this situation. They did what they felt was right for them, not for the people they were impacting. 

When it comes to this case, the Indian Health Service did not embody any of these character traits. In fact, they violated them, and didn’t act at all with any of the four main traits that surround virtue theory. These four traits are, Courage, Honesty, Self-Control and Fairness. When we look at these traits and apply them to this case, we see how wrong the Indian Health Service Company truly was. They didn't apply any of these traits to their company. What they did made them completely unethical in the eyes of Virtue Theory. 

I feel as if there is no type of justification for this being okay in any way shape or form. What this man did was ruin the lives of tons of people. The victim’s lives, their family’s lives, the employees who lost money, every person involved in this case, suffered in some way because of this man. I agree with the theory of individualism when it comes to the justification that this was unethical. No matter how you look at it, this man was and is wrong, as well as the Indian Health Service. 

As an outsider I would imagine this company cleaning house of all employees, bringing in all new staff to help rebuild their image to the public, and of course own up to how wrong they truly were in this situation. The company should take all things into consideration to help fix the problems that they have. In order to get pass this major bump in the road, the company should come up with a mission statement to show everyone what they value, as well as where the want to take the company in the future. A new mission statement would be beneficial to the company. For example, The Indian Health Service believes in helping Native Americans and Alaskan Natives reach their utmost potential when it comes to their health. All the while creating a safe and comfortable environment for their patients, and their families. This statement shows that the patients and their safety and comfortability is their priority moving forward. It also shows that the company is still a health service, it is there to help people, not the opposite. 


Kahron Hogans



Resources 

“How The Wall Street Journal and FRONTLINE Uncovered a Pedophile Doctor's Past.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/christopher-weaver-reporting-pedophile-doctor/.

Weaver, Christopher, and Dan Frosch. “HHS to Review Indian Health Service After Revelations on Pedophile Doctor.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 13 Feb. 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/hhs-to-review-indian-health-service-after-revelations-on-pedophile-doctor-11550091301.

“Child Sexual Abuse Statistics.” Darkness to Light, www.d2l.org/the-issue/statistics/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAk-7jBRD9ARIsAEy8mh5I0KOlBBzwgOgTvGrpQFhSu4nPtyWaLVbmtw-x1rsDgC43euW8g50aApqlEALw_wcB.

 "Martin, Nick, and Nick Martin. “Pedophile Doctor Preyed on Native Children for Years While the Feds Turned a Blind Eye.” Splinter, Splinter, 8 Feb. 2019, splinternews.com/pedophile-doctor-preyed-on-native-children-for-years-wh-1832474363.

 “Former Acting Clinical Director of Pine Ridge Hospital Indicted on Sexual Abuse Charges.” Native News Online, 7 Mar. 2017, nativenewsonline.net/currents/former-acting-clinical-director-pine-ridge-hospital-indicted-sexual-abuse-charges/.

 Rosenbaum, Traci. “Verdict: Browning Pediatrician Guilty of Sexually Assaulting Boys over 20 Years Ago.” Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls Tribune, 6 Sept. 2018, www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2018/09/06/browning-montana-blackfeet-reservation-sexual-assault-crime-verdict-molestation/1216866002.