Queens doctor accused of sexually assaulting at least seven women including patients at hospital and his home
A New York City doctor who was previously accused of raping a woman at his Queens home was hit with a slew of new charges alleging that he filmed the assaults of at least seven women – including patients at the hospital where he worked.
Zhi Alan Cheng, 33, was arraigned Monday on charges of sexually abusing three of his patients at New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital and raping three other women inside his apartment, the Queens district attorney announced.
Videos were seized in the investigation that allegedly show Mr Cheng assaulting three patients between March 2021 and May 2022.
All three patients appeared to be unconscious and their closed eyelids were pulled open during the assault, according to the district attorney’s office.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the evidence showed that the young gastroenterologist was “a sexual predator of the absolute worst kind.”
She called Mr Cheng “a serial rapist, someone willing to not only violate his sacred professional oath and patients’ trust, but every standard of human decency.”
Mr Cheng was initially arrested and charged back in December for allegedly drugging and raping a female acquaintance in his home.
That female acquaintance alerted police to videos she allegedly found in Mr Cheng’s home of him assaulting her and other women, which launched the investigation, according to the district attorney’s office.
Shortly after his arrest in December, Cheng was terminated from his job at the hospital where prosecutors said even more assaults took place.
“The crimes committed by this individual are heinous, despicable, and a fundamental betrayal of our mission and our patients’ trust,” New York-Presbyterian said in a statement.
“In December 2022, as soon as the District Attorney made us aware of allegations of sexual abuse against this individual, he was immediately placed off duty, banned from hospital property, and terminated.”
The videos found during a search of Mr Cheng’s home showed female hospital patients and female acquaintances who appeared to be unconscious while he allegedly sexually assaulted them.
Some videos showed locations other than Queens, including Westchester County, Manhattan, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Thailand, according to the district attorney’s office.
Drugs were also found in Mr Cheng’s home, including propofol and sevoflurane, which are used in healthcare to sedate people, according to prosecutors. Fentanyl, ketamine and LSD were also found.
Prosecutors said one of the videos shows Mr Cheng handling a brown bottle similar to the one seized from his apartment containing the anesthetic sevoflurane. It was noted that the women have no memory of the events.
On Monday, Mr Cheng stood in court in Queens as 50 new counts were brought against him. He pleaded not guilty to the new charges.
“Dr Cheng has pleaded not guilty to the charges and we intend to fight them,” Mr Cheng’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told CNN.
Mr Cheng is expected to be back in court on 19 September. He faces multiple 25 years to life sentences if convicted.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is urging women who think they may have been victimised to contact her office’s Special Victims Bureau at (718) 286-6505 or SpecialVictims@queensda.org.
