Physician in New York Metropolis Accused of Sexually Assaulting Unconscious Sufferers and Recording Incidents

NEW YORK — A New York Metropolis physician was charged Monday in reference to the alleged sexual abuse of a minimum of six girls, together with a number of sufferers who have been drugged, filmed and assaulted throughout appointments at a prestigious native hospital, prosecutors stated.

Zhi Alan Cheng was arraigned Monday on costs of sexually abusing three of his sufferers at New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital and raping three different girls inside his residence in Queens, New York. He pleaded not responsible to the costs.

The 33-year-old gastroenterologist was terminated from his hospital job in December after his arrest for allegedly raping a feminine acquaintance in his Queens residence. On the time, the lady informed authorities she had found movies of Cheng abusing her and a number of different girls.

As investigators searched his residence and gadgets, they uncovered a trove of video proof displaying the physician abusing girls inside his residence and office, in accordance with the brand new indictment.

The footage confirmed Cheng groping three hospital sufferers, together with a 19-year-old and a “severely ailing” 47-year-old, prosecutors stated. All the girls gave the impression to be unconscious throughout the abuse, suggesting Cheng used anesthesia to sedate them, in accordance with court docket paperwork.

A number of forms of liquid anesthesia have been recovered from his residence, alongside leisure narcotics akin to cocaine and ecstasy, the court docket paperwork say.

An lawyer for Cheng didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

In a press release, Queens District Legal professional Melinda Katz stated the proof pointed to “a serial rapist, somebody keen to not solely violate his sacred skilled oath and sufferers’ belief, however each commonplace of human decency.”

The arrest follows the sentencing of one other physician within the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital system, Robert Hadden, a gynecologist who allegedly abused 245 girls over the span of twenty years. He was sentenced to twenty years in jail in June.

Cheng’s alleged abuse befell over a a lot shorter time period, between 2021 and 2022. However prosecutors stated they’d extra proof to recommend that Cheng assaulted different girls at totally different areas in New York Metropolis, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Thailand, though he has not been charged in reference to these incidents.

Angela Karafazi, a spokesperson for New York-Presbyterian, stated Cheng’s alleged conduct was “a elementary betrayal of our mission and our sufferers’ belief.”

The hospital intends to assessment its affected person security insurance policies and implement extra coaching for all staff, she stated.