By Erin Pearson
Police are working to identify up to 400 doctors, nurses, paramedics and hospital patients who were allegedly secretly filmed by a junior doctor on cameras hidden in the toilets of major Melbourne hospitals.
Ryan Cho, 28, was rearrested on Friday and faced court on fresh charges after police discovered more than 10,000 intimate files on his electronic devices, Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard.
Cho was originally charged after a device was found in the staff toilets and showers at the Austin Hospital.
But police told the court hundreds of hours of vision were being reviewed, and their investigation had now spread to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre over four years from 2021, after named folders were uncovered on devices seized from Cho’s home.
“There is approximately 4500 intimate videos captured using toilet and shower facilities, capturing the genital and anal regions of people in vulnerable positions,” Senior Constable Narelle Baker said.
“It names at least 406 female victims ... categorised into folders with names and workplaces. Female doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff.”
The court heard that on June 25, a staff member at the Austin in Heidelberg first raised concerns about a man loitering in the staff toilet areas of the emergency department.
At the time, investigations had already begun into toilet blockages and damage that police now allege was done to force victims into cubicles where cameras were hidden.
Baker told the court hospital staff reported Cho had been hanging around the hospital outside his rostered hours, including on July 3 when a nurse found a backpack, with a camera inside, hanging on a removable white hook. The white hooks were found in various places, including patient toilets.
During a search of Cho’s home, police seized two mobile phones, a laptop and a hard drive alongside mesh bags with a likeness to the backpack found at the hospital.
Baker said a search of the Austin Hospital later uncovered white removable hooks on other levels not installed by management, raising concerns that filming may have occurred in other areas.
The parents of Ryan Cho leave the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday night.Credit: Jason South
On one of the phones linked to the accused, Baker said police found a three-hour video they allege showed Cho setting up the secret camera.
On a laptop, police allegedly found 10,374 files made up of video and still images organised into folders and subfolders.
Baker said many of them – close to 400 – named victims, hospitals and wards the footage may have been captured in.
Police allege other files were created outside healthcare settings, including homes between 2021 and 2025.
In opposing bail, Baker said Cho posed a risk to the public, and that staff at the hospitals were traumatised by the allegations.
“They no longer feel safe. [He is] calculated and obsessed,” Baker said.
“He devoted an enormous amount of time keeping his colleagues under surveillance, tampering with toilets to draw his victims into [cubicles] where devices were set up.”
Baker said further analysis was being done to identify victims, and that further charges were expected.
Cho’s lawyer, George Balot, said his client had arranged to see a sexologist and psychologist to seek treatment.
The Austin Hospital in Heidelberg.Credit: Eddie Jim
The court heard Cho, who is of Malaysian descent, moved to Australia in 2017 and was working as a doctor and resident surgeon at the Austin Hospital at the time of his arrest.
Balot said it was Cho’s first time in custody and the now suspended medical practitioner had no prior convictions.
He said Cho had the support of his family, who had flown over on tourist visas from Singapore to support their eldest son, while also offering a $10,000 surety and supervision if their son was released.
Balot said any alleged risks could be managed with strict bail conditions including orders prohibiting the 28-year-old from possessing a mobile phone and a plan for him to attend sex-related therapy.
“The matter is contested,” Balot said.
“There is a presumption of bail. My client is able to comply with any strict conditions of bail. They can ameliorate any risk of reoffending.”
Cho’s mother sat in the second row throughout the lengthy hearing, largely with her eyes closed, while his father, Wilson Cho, vowed “to support him any way that I can”.
Cho is facing charges including stalking, producing intimate images, using an optical surveillance device and failing to comply with directions to assist.
Magistrate James Henderson ultimately refused bail, remanding the accused in custody until his next court date.
Public records show Cho graduated from Monash University in 2022 and first registered as a medical practitioner in January 2023.
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