Queens Doctor Drugged, Raped Women In Hospital And Astoria Home: DA

QUEENS, NEW YORK — Disturbing videos show a Queens doctor sexually abusing drugged women in a hospital, his Astoria apartment, Las Vegas and Thailand, spurring the District Attorney's office to slap him with 50 criminal charges, prosecutors announced Monday.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, 33, was arraigned Monday after prosecutors found video of him assaulting six women, including a 19-year-old inside Queens Presbyterian Hospital, according to District Attorney Melinda Katz.

“The recovered evidence compiled paints the picture of a sexual predator of the absolute worst kind, a serial rapist," Katz said, "someone willing to not only violate his sacred professional oath and patients’ trust, but every standard of human decency, as well.”

Cheng's attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told Patch he had not yet seen the evidence and was therefore not in a position to comment.

The Queens gastroenterologist was first arrested in December, when a female acquaintance discovered video of her attack in Cheng's home, prosecutors said.

Cheng’s New York medical license was suspended and he was held without bail, prosecutors said.

Katz's office launched an investigation, searching Cheng's home and uncovering the video as well as deadly drugs such as fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine, LSD and and the sedative sevoflurane, prosecutors said.

The women's ages range from 19 to 47 and the attacks — which also occurred in San Francisco, Manhattan and Westchester — took place between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said.

One victim was severely ill, another had a tissue over her face, prosecutors said.

The video, as described by prosecutors, share disturbing factors:

• The six women are all unconscious.
• Fingers probe the mouths of one woman and at the eyes of three.
• A brown bottle that appears to be sevoflurane — an anesthesia used during surgery — can be seen in two videos.
• Three women later said they had no memory of the attack.

The doctor now faces 50 charges that include rape, sexual assault, unlawful surveillance and criminal possession of a controlled substance, prosecutors said. If convicted, Cheng could face multiple life sentences.

Women who believe they may have been victimized should contact the Special Victims Bureau at (718) 286-6505, or SpecialVictims@queensda.org.