‘Sexual Predator of the Absolute Worst Kind’: NYC Doctor Accused of Drugging Multiple Women, Patients, Filming Sexual Assaults: Prosecutor

A New York City doctor has been arraigned and charged with more than 50 counts after police searched his electronic devices and allegedly found dozens of short videos of him sexually abusing six victims at his apartment and at the hospital where he worked, according to authorities.

In December 2022, Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng was fired from his job at New York Presbyterian Queens Hospital after he was arrested for drugging a girlfriend and raping her in his apartment, according to the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.

Investigators then searched Cheng's electronic devices and allegedly found dozens of short videos officials said show Cheng sexually abusing women both at his home and at the hospital, the New York Times reported.

Detectives seized narcotics from the suspect's Queens home, including fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine, LSD and MDMA, as well as drugs used in health care settings for sedation, such as propofol and sevoflurane, according to officials.

On Aug. 7, prosecutors filed 50 new charges against Cheng, including rape, sexual abuse and drug possession, authorities said.

“The recovered evidence compiled paints the picture of a sexual predator of the absolute worst kind, a serial rapist, someone willing to not only violate his sacred professional oath and patients’ trust, but every standard of human decency, as well," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

The identified victims ranged in age from 19 to 47, according to the Times, and investigators said they found that some of the alleged assaults were associated with multiple recordings.

Cheng was first indicted in December 2022 on an 11-count indictment after he was accused of drugging and raping a female acquaintance at his Queens home, the DA’s office said. In that case, he was charged with two counts of rape, criminal sexual act in the first degree, two counts of assault, two counts of sexual abuse and four counts of unlawful surveillance.

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For the new 50-count indictment, Cheng has been charged with 10 counts of predatory sexual assault, three counts of rape in the first degree, seven counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, four counts of assault in the second degree, three counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, 11 counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, eight counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, officials said.

Cheng pleaded not guilty and was returned to jail, where he has been held without bond since his arrest in December.

Prosecutors said there are other victims who have yet to be identified, including five women who were assaulted in hotel rooms in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Thailand.

The investigation is ongoing.