S'porean doctor out on bail in Melbourne after more charges for filming colleagues in showers and toilets
Marie McInerney
The Straits Times
Aug 22, 2025
A Singaporean trainee doctor was granted bail by a Melbourne court on Aug 22, after he was handed an additional 127 charges over the alleged filming of hundreds of colleagues in hospital showers and toilets.
Ryan Cho, 28, who to date faces a total of 133 charges, though that number is expected to rise significantly, is alleged to have filmed more than 450 nurses, doctors and other colleagues at the hospitals where he had worked since 2021.
Despite opposition from police, the trainee surgeon was granted release into the support and supervision of his Singaporean parents, who attended the bail hearing in Victoria's Supreme Court and posted the A$50,000 (S$41,400) surety.
Cho had been detained for nearly a month in extended solitary confinement, unable to access any meaningful psychiatric or psychological treatment, his lawyer Julian McMahon said.
"That prison environment is isolated - he's locked down 23 hours a day and when he exercises in a yard... which is caged, he's alone as well - so it's an extremely isolated experience," Mr McMahon told the court.
Given the large number of allegations in the case that has rocked Melbourne's health services, continued remand was a major concern, he said, noting that the case could go to trial only in 2027.
There was a risk that Cho could spend more time in remand than if he were convicted and sentenced, according to the lawyer.
Mr McMahon also said his client had no prior criminal record.
He described Cho as a "complicated young professional man" with what would almost certainly be recognised as "complex psychological issues".
Prosecutor Russell Hammill, however, said Cho should be denied bail because he posed an unacceptable risk of endangering the community and was a flight risk.
Cho was arrested in July, following an urgent investigation by the Victorian Police's Mernda Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Team. Recording devices had earlier been found in staff bathrooms at Austin Hospital in suburban Melbourne, where he worked as a doctor and residential surgeon.
He was charged on July 25 with six counts relating to installing a surveillance device and producing intimate images, after police found more than 4,500 videos on his laptop, mobile phone and computer hard drive.
A court was told that day that the images depicted the genital and anal regions of the alleged victims, most of whom appeared to be female doctors, nurses, paramedics and staff members.
The court heard on Aug 22 that Cho had also allegedly filmed his former flatmate and visitors to their shared home without their knowledge.
Ahead of the bail application, the Victoria police said on Aug 21 that they had laid an additional 127 charges against Cho, with more likely to come.
The new charges relate to stalking, producing intimate images and installing optical surveillance devices, they said in a statement.
Cho was granted permanent residency earlier in 2025 in Australia, where he has lived since 2017. He studied medicine at Monash University, which cost his parents "half a million dollars", the court heard on Aug 22.
His father, Mr Wilson Cho, a logistics manager who lives in Singapore with his wife, told the court during the bail hearing that he had "no idea" of the alleged behaviour that had led to the charges against his son and the suspension of his medical licence.
The parents, who arrived at court wearing face masks and declined to speak to the media, had signed a six-month rental agreement in Melbourne that could be extended and were committed to ensuring their son fulfil his bail conditions. These included a night curfew, the surrender of his passport, and no access to devices with photographic or video capacity.
Cho, who sat still and upright in the dock throughout the two-hour hearing, is also banned from visiting any hospital without approval from police - except in an emergency - and any airport or other point of international departure. He must report to a local police station three times a week and engage in psychological treatment.
The alleged offences occurred at three major hospitals in Melbourne: the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Austin Hospital.
"It's alleged a mobile phone was used as a recording device in staff toilets at all three hospitals named so far," police said.
Their investigation also covers other medical facilities where Cho worked between 2020 and 2025.
In documents lodged in court in July, police alleged that Cho had "devoted enormous amounts of his time and effort into keeping his colleagues under surveillance in their bathroom facilities".
"The accused has demonstrated in his level and pattern of offending that he is calculated and obsessed," they alleged.
"Police expect to identify further alleged victims. However, working through this process is expected to take some time."
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency confirmed in July that Cho had been suspended from practice as a result of the charges.
Chief executive officer Jodie Geissler of Austin Health, which runs the Austin Hospital, said it was "an incredibly distressing situation for our staff, and their safety and well-being is our absolute priority".
"We have been working closely with Victoria Police to fully support their investigation," she said in a statement to The Straits Times.
"Right now, our focus is on caring for our staff. We have comprehensive support services in place and are doing everything we can to help them through this challenging time."
