By ROD McGUIRK
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A trainee surgeon was released from custody on bail Friday after he was accused of secretly video recording hundreds of medical colleagues in the restrooms of Australian hospitals.
Ryan Cho, 28, will likely face around 500 charges relating to 4,500 intimate videos he secretly recorded with phones mainly in the staff restrooms of three Melbourne hospitals since 2021, police alleged in documents cited in the Victoria state Supreme Court.
Justice James Elliott ruled that the junior doctor be released on the condition he live with his parents, who moved from Singapore to Melbourne in anticipation of their son’s month in prison ending. His parents were required to post a 50,000 Australian dollar ($32,000) surety.
The prosecutor argued that Cho had no meaningful ties to Australia after being suspended from his job and the charges against him could be an inducement to flee. While Cho became an Australian permanent resident in April, he would face deportation if he was convicted and sentenced to 12 months or longer in prison, Hammill said.
The judge noted Cho had surrendered his Singapore passport and had no criminal connections to help him leave Australia.
Cho ignored reporters’ questions as he left the court building wearing sunglasses over his prescription glasses and a surgical face mask.
Police allege Cho recorded intimate images of at least 460 women. The judge noted there was no allegation Cho had disseminated those images.
Cho was arrested in July after a phone was found recording from inside a mesh bag hanging in an Austin Hospital restroom. Police allege he also recorded in restrooms in the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
His lawyer Julian McMahon rejected prosecutors’ fears that if released, Cho could interfere with witnesses. There were likely to be hundreds of witnesses alleging similar offenses, McMahon said.
“There’s a sense here that if my client were to engage in the criminal offense of interfering with witnesses that it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the case,” McMahon said.
Cho was initially charged with six offenses but another 127 charges were added Thursday, including intentionally recording intimate images without permission.
McMahon said it was too early to tell if the allegations would go to trial. Cho hasn’t entered pleas.
Cho came to Australia as a student in 2017 and studied medicine at Melbourne’s Monash University.
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