A 33-year-old New York City gastroenterologist appeared in court in Queens on Monday charged with 50 counts of drug abuse and rape of women around the world — including at the hospital where he works.
Zhi Alan Cheng is accused of filming the attacks on his cell phone and was stopped in December when a former girlfriend accused him of rape and said she found a video on his cell phone of herself and other women being attacked .
The ex-girlfriend accused Cheng of using a K-N95 mask full of cotton balls soaked in liquid to knock her unconscious.
Police began investigating her allegation, and Cheng was arrested and released from the New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital where he worked.
On Monday, the extent of his depravity was revealed when prosecutors alleged he assaulted several women between the ages of 19 and 47 at his Astoria home; at the hospital where he worked; and in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Thailand.
The videos show six women, but prosecutors believe there could be more.
Zhi Alan Cheng, a 33-year-old gastroenterologist, is accused of drugging and raping women in New York-Presbyterian Queens, where he works, and at his home
Cheng attended Albany Medical College in the 2010s before completing his residency at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He received his New York City medical license in June 2020
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz urged anyone with potential leads about other victims to come forward, saying the evidence points to “a sex offender of the absolute worst kind, a serial rapist.”
She said he was willing to break “every norm of human decency.”
After the December 2022 attack, Cheng’s home was searched and police found drugs including fentanyl, ketamine, LSD and several anesthetics typically used in surgeries, as well as devices with dozens of other records at his home.
The attacks are believed to date back to 2021.
In one case, Cheng is accused of filming himself groping an unconscious 37-year-old patient at Queens Hospital in 2021.
A short time later, according to prosecutors, he raped a woman he met through a dating app and filmed the attack.
A small brown bottle was seen on his bed in the video, authorities said. Authorities said they found a similar bottle containing a powerful narcotic at his home.
In the same year, he is accused of raping a 19-year-old girl who was hospitalized a day before the scheduled gallbladder removal.
She said Cheng unexpectedly injected her with a substance that put her to sleep and “when she woke up.” [the] The doctor was gone [the] Room’.
She was in extreme pain [her] abdomen.’
She and her mother both feared she might have been sexually abused, but she told sexual assault social workers she didn’t know what happened while she was unconscious.
She reported this to hospital authorities and did not accuse him of the rape, but medical staff took the accusation seriously: they checked surveillance camera footage and access key cards, and queued at the hospital, where they identified Cheng.
Nicholas Liakas, the teenager’s lawyer, said the investigation into the incident had been closed and he had since filed a civil suit against the hospital.
Nicholas Liakas, representing the 19-year-old accuser, is suing the hospital for failing to report the June 2021 attack to police
“This investigation has hit a dead end, if you want to call it that,” he told NBC 4 News.
He told the broadcaster the hospital “conspired to cover up her attack by not telling her what happened, failing to test her for the illegal and dangerous injection of drugs she was given or to treat and refused to call the police.”
The New York-Presbyterian declined to comment on the 19-year-old’s allegations, but expressed outrage at his alleged behavior.
“The crimes committed by this individual are heinous, despicable and a fundamental betrayal of our mission and the trust of our patients.” “We are appalled and deeply saddened by what these victims and their families have endured,” the statement said .
The hospital said Cheng was released six months ago after New York-Presbyterian learned of the criminal rape charge.
“In December 2022, when the district attorney brought allegations of sexual abuse against this individual to our attention, she was immediately dismissed from the service, banned from hospital grounds and discharged,” the hospital said.
“We have cooperated fully with the Queens Attorney’s Office, the NYPD and the New York Department of Health.”
Cheng’s attorney, Jeffrey Einhorn, said Monday it was “too early” to comment on the case.
Cheng pleaded not guilty and is being held on Rikers Island.