Ex-Veterans Affairs doctor seeks change of venue in child sex case

Craig Morgenstern, the former Veterans Affairs doctor indicted in federal court on three dozen counts of child sex crimes, is seeking a trial outside Spokane.

In a court filing last week, Morgenstern’s attorney requested a change of venue based on “pervasive coverage of the case.”

Morgenstern was arrested after Stevens County deputies spoke with a 13-year-old boy who said he’d been filmed in Morgenstern’s Nine Mile Falls home while the 45-year-old surgeon performed sex acts. A subsequent investigation of digital files revealed evidence of other such crimes, leading to a 36-count indictment handed down in November, according to court documents.

Morgenstern, now 46, is in custody at the Spokane County Jail awaiting a scheduled February trial date.

Morgenstern’s attorney, Bryan Whitaker, of Spokane, alleges based on statistical analysis that more than 300,000 residents of Spokane County have had some media exposure to the story.

Last month, accused murder-for-hire suspect James Henrikson was granted a change of venue for his trial in the deaths of Doug Carlile and Kristopher “K.C.” Clarke. Henrikson took a plea deal a few days later.

Morgenstern has pleaded not guilty to the counts in the indictment. He is no longer employed by the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane.