MELBOURNE: A trainee doctor from Singapore pleaded guilty on Thursday (July 9) to charges of secretly filming hundreds of colleagues while they were using the toilets and showers in three major Melbourne hospitals.
Ryan Cho, 28, whose medical registration was suspended by Australian health regulators in 2025, pleaded guilty at the Melbourne Magistrates Court to 13 charges, including stalking, installing an optical device in order to record private images and producing intimate images.
During their investigation, police have said they seized a number of electronic devices, including a laptop, hard drive and mobile phone from Cho’s home. They uncovered more than 10,000 video and image files of his victims, who number more than 500.
Free on strict bail conditions, Cho’s next court appearance is on Nov 23, the start of a three-day pre-sentence hearing in Melbourne’s County Court, which is also expected to hear impact statements from his victims.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz acknowledged a number of victims who were in the court and watching the hearing via video link.
During the hearing, which lasted under 30 minutes, Cho admitted to having secretly and illegally obtained thousands of photos or videos of colleagues at the Austin Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, where he had worked between 2021 and 2025, after studying medicine at Monash University.
He also pleaded guilty to filming victims he shared residences with during that time.
Cho has lived in Australia since 2017 and was granted permanent residency in April 2025. He was arrested in July 2025 after staff at the Austin Hospital discovered a phone in a mesh bag in a staff toilet that had been recording.
Victorian police laid 910 charges against him after discovering the large number of intimate files, including 4,500 videos, on his devices.
Magistrate Mykytowycz told the court that prosecution and defence parties had agreed to the charges being combined, or “rolled up”, into 13 counts.
Telling Cho she was satisfied that there was “sufficient weight (in the evidence) that a jury could convict you of these offences”, she asked him to stand and state his plea.
“Guilty,” he said to all 13 charges.
Cho, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and tie, sat alone in the front row of the court. His father, Wilson Cho, a logistics manager from Singapore, sat at the back of the court, watching proceedings.
Wilson Cho said during a previous court appearance he had “no idea” of the alleged behaviour that had led to the charges against his son and the suspension of his medical licence.
Cho’s bail, guaranteed by a A$50,000 (S$44,850) surety lodged in 2025 by his parents, was extended on July 9 until the November hearing. His parents have previously told the court they are committed that one or both of them will live in Melbourne for the duration of the proceedings to support their son and his compliance with bail conditions.
The strict bail conditions include reporting to police three times a week, no contact with any witnesses or potential witnesses, not attending any hospital except in an emergency without prior agreement with police, not having any access to photographic or video devices outside of his home, and undergoing appropriate medical treatment.
He has already surrendered his passport, the court heard.
Cho’s barrister, Julian McMahon, told a bail hearing in 2025 that his client had no prior criminal record, but he described him as a “complicated young professional man” with what would almost certainly be recognised as “complex psychological issues”.
The case, closely watched in Australia, might also prompt other legal action. Around 100 victims, mostly women, have reportedly lodged human rights complaints against the three hospitals on the grounds of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Tony Carbone, managing partner at Carbone Lawyers, told The Straits Times he expected more hospital employees to join the case being taken to the Australian Human Rights Commission by his firm. - The Straits Times/ANN
