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Singaporean doctor in Melbourne now faces 910 charges for allegedly filming colleagues in toilets
Singaporean trainee doctor Ryan Cho leaving the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Aug 22, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Marie McInerney
Published Feb 27, 2026, 08:15 PM
Updated Feb 27, 2026, 08:53 PM
MELBOURNE – A Singaporean trainee doctor is now facing a total of 910 charges over allegations that he secretly filmed more than 450 colleagues in staff showers and toilets at three major hospitals in Melbourne over a number of years.
Ryan Cho, 28, whose medical registration was suspended by Australian health regulators in 2025, made a brief appearance at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Feb 27.
Dressed in black pants and a black suit jacket, he sat alone in the court behind his lawyer. He was not accompanied in court by his Singaporean parents, who are responsible for his support and supervision after he was released on bail in August 2025, with an A$50,000 (S$45,000) surety.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz acknowledged that alleged victims and their families were watching the Feb 27 procedural hearing in the courtroom or via webcast.
No evidence was tendered during the 15-minute hearing.
Proceedings are now adjourned for three months, until May 22, to give the defence and prosecution more time to address the massive number of charges and alleged victims.
Ms Mykytowycz agreed to the “lengthier than normal” adjournment as Cho’s new lawyer Kristina Kothrakis had been briefed on the case only two weeks ago.
“There is obviously a very large amount of material for you to consider,” she told Ms Kothrakis.
The court did not say why Cho had changed his legal representation. He also did not speak during the hearing, only shaking his head when asked by the magistrate if he had any questions.
The charges against him have mounted since
he was arrested in July 2025
, after a recording device was found in the Emergency Department staff bathroom at Austin Hospital in Melbourne’s north-east, where he worked as a general surgery registrar.
Cho had moved from Singapore to Australia in 2018 to pursue a Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine at Monash University. He is a citizen of Singapore, where his family ordinarily resides, and became a permanent resident of Australia in April 2025.
He was stood down from his Austin position and had his registration suspended by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency after charges were laid against him in July 2025.
Cho originally faced five charges of intentionally recording intimate images of four alleged victims, and knowingly installing an optical surveillance device to record a private activity without consent.
However, the police predicted many more charges after forensic analysis of electronic devices seized from his home “uncovered conduct alleged to be far greater in potential volume, scope and severity” than the initial charges, Melbourne’s Supreme Court heard in 2025.
Over the following months, the number of charges grew, with an additional 775 announced by police in December 2025.
Magistrate Mykytowycz on Feb 27, 2026 confirmed a total of 910 charges.
Cho has yet to submit a plea.
Previous court hearings heard details of alleged offending, which came to light after a nurse using a unisex staff toilet at Austin Hospital allegedly found a mesh bag hanging on a plastic utility hook facing the toilet.
It allegedly contained clothing and a mobile phone set to flight mode and attached to a power bank. The phone was alleged to be recording at the time it was found.
Following a number of alleged leads, Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team searched Cho’s home, allegedly finding similar mesh bags and hooks, and seizing a number of electronic devices, including a laptop, hard drive and mobile phone.
Police said the hard drive contained more than 10,000 files of videos and images, with early estimates that 4,500 videos involved images of around 460 victims using toilets or showers.
While most of the alleged victims appeared to be female staff at three medical facilities – Austin Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – where Cho had worked since 2021, police alleged there were also intimate images of two of his female former housemates, as well as one of the housemate’s friends, recorded in their shared house.
The files were allegedly organised into folders and subfolders, named in accordance with the locations where the videos or images were captured (for example, medical or residential), the names of medical facilities and their wards, the names of victims, “and what appear to be tiered designations of particular images and videos (Tier 1 and Tier 2)”, the court was told.
In unsuccessfully opposing Cho’s bail in 2025, the prosecution told the Supreme Court that his alleged conduct must have created “an atmosphere of insecurity and angst among hundreds of people”.
The court heard that Cho’s parents are of substantial means and have committed that one or both of them will live in Melbourne for the duration of the proceedings to support their son, who remains on bail but with extensive restrictions.
Cho is subject to a night curfew, surrender of his passport, and no access to the internet or any device with photographic or video capacity. He is banned from visiting any hospital without police approval, except in an emergency. He must also report to a local police station three times a week and undergo psychological treatment.
- Marie McInerney is a Melbourne-based freelance writer.
