A junior doctor accused of secretly filming oblivious co-workers had a charmed life after his rich Asian parents gave him every opportunity money could buy.
Ryan Yi Cho, 28, of Croydon Hills in Melbourne’s east, faces hundreds of charges related to allegations he filmed colleagues and patients at some of Melbourne’s largest hospitals.
Daily Mail can reveal Cho is the product of good stock – the eldest child of hard-working parents who flew in to be by his side upon learning of his arrest.
As a young man growing up in Singapore in south-east Asia, Cho would hike through the mountainside on massive expeditions for hundreds of kilometres at a time.
He enjoyed reading and had a passion for learning.
But deep within, Victoria Police sexual crime squad detectives have now accused Cho of hiding a dark secret that is now allegedly being exposed in Australia’s courts.
On Friday, Cho’s father Wilson Cho – a manager for a large logistics company – put up a $50,000 surety in the Supreme Court of Victoria to secure his eldest son’s release from Port Phillip Prison.
An earlier offer of $10,000 had been rejected in a lower court.
Ryan Yi Cho (left) and his lawyer George Balot after his legal team secured his release on bail on Friday
Ryan Yi Cho is accused of filming colleagues and patients on the toilet in some of Australia’s largest hospitals
Mr Cho was fully aware of the allegations against his son when he arrived in Melbourne with his wife Sarah in July.
The couple were chased down the street by a horde of reporters and photographers when Cho was refused bail at that time.
Their faces hidden, the mortified couple hurried away as their son was returned to one of Australia’s toughest prisons.
Similar scenes played out on Friday when the couple were again made to ‘run the gauntlet’ past waiting reporters outside the Supreme Court of Victoria where Cho again applied for bail.
Mr Cho had been prepared to monitor his son and immediately alert police if he appeared to be involved in anything suspicious.
Police filed 127 additional charges against the doctor on Thursday, including stalking.
The tally of charges now stands at 131, with as many as 500 expected to be laid by the time Cho eventually faces trial.
Cho was first arrested on July 10 after a phone concealed in a mesh bag was discovered in a staff toilet at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne’s northeast.
Ryan Yi Cho, 28, is led into court for his Supreme Court of Victoria bail application on Friday
Cho’s parents outside the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday
Cho’s father Wilson Cho (pictured) is a manager for a large logistics company
A subsequent deep dive by detectives into his electronic devices led to numerous new allegations, which could result in years in jail if he’s convicted.
Cho’s father is now trapped in Australia until his son’s slow journey through Victoria’s justice system is complete or his bail is revoked.
‘I’ll be here for as long as he needs,’ he said.
Cho had shared a close relationship with his father, talking to him every day on the phone in the years since he left his homeland.
The doting dad revealed he had paid his son’s way through medical school to the tune of $500,000 over a five-year period.
It appeared to be money well spent, with Cho quickly rising through the ranks to work within some of Australia’s most prestigious hospitals.
Cho had come to Australia in 2017 to study medicine at Monash University.
On completion in 2022, Cho secured Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees.
Ryan Yi Cho ‘runs the gauntlet’ with his lawyer George Balot past reporters outside the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday
He became an Australian citizen and had been working as a residential surgeon at The Austin.
The talented doctor appeared to lead a faultless life until his arrest, having never previously come to the attention of police either in Australia or abroad.
Police have since confirmed their investigation into his alleged offending is ongoing and they are looking into other medical facilities where Cho worked between 2020 and 2025.
While his original alleged offending was linked to The Austin hospital it was quickly ascertained Cho may have allegedly committed similar offences at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The case against Cho is conceded by his own defence team to be strong, but he has not made any admissions and plans to contest the charges.
He was represented by high-profile Melbourne criminal lawyer George Balot for his initial bail application, and by barrister Julian McMahon, SC at the Supreme Court on Friday.
During an appearance at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on July 25, the court heard police officers allegedly found 10,374 video and image files of Cho’s alleged victims on several devices.
Victoria Police told the court there could be as many as 460 different people affected, who had all been named on numerous folders found on Cho’s computer.
A spokesperson for the Austin Hospital (pictured) told Daily Mail it continues to focus its full support on all staff members affected
Junior doctor Ryan Cho (pictured) has been slapped with 127 further charges after allegedly filming staff at three hospitals across Melbourne
The folders allegedly contained a variety of footage of both men and women using hospital toilets, the court heard.
Word of Cho’s alleged offending saw him promptly banned by the medical profession, his very presence prohibited in any of the hospitals where he previously worked.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency suspended Cho’s medical licence, meaning he can no longer work or study medicine.
Released on bail by Justice James Elliott, Cho faces a bleak future whether he is cleared or not, with his medical career effectively over for now before it truly began.
Free on bail, Cho will continue to see a psychologist and sexologist.
Police had strongly opposed Cho being released back into the community.
They said he had no ties left in Australia and asserted he was a flight risk
On Friday, Mr Balot took a veiled swipe at the magistrate who refused his client bail after he offered a near-identical bail application in July.
Cho was arrested twice in July over alleged offending at the Austin Hospital
‘Bail is not concerned with punishing an accused person in advance of a criminal trial,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘Bail is concerned with ensuring that an accused person appears in court to answer his bail and complies with bail conditions.
‘I am pleased with the decision of the Honourable Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria in releasing my client on bail.
‘The entire team of our criminal lawyers at Balot Reilly Criminal Lawyers have worked tirelessly with Senior Counsel to regain his liberty.’
Police alleged in court that Cho was a devious offender who knew exactly what he wanted and how to go about it.
‘The accused has demonstrated in his level and pattern of offending that he is calculated and obsessed,’ Senior Constable Neral Baykur said at an earlier hearing.
‘The accused devoted enormous amounts of time and effort into keeping his colleagues under surveillance in their bathroom facilities.
‘[He went] to lengths to tamper with surrounding toilets to divert victims into where he set up and concealed his device, only to spend more time downloading and categorising the intimate footage and storing it on his laptop.’
In addition to being a risk in the workplace, police claimed Cho was a further risk to the general community.
‘The accused is currently residing in a shared house and poses an unacceptable risk to his housemates,’ Senior Constable Baykur warned the court in July.
Cho’s parents hid their faces in July after their son was refused bail
‘Analysis of his laptop hard drive demonstrates that his previous female housemates are also likely victims.
‘Police have significant concerns for victims and their psychological safety and believe that the court should prioritise their protection and prevent the accused accessing further victims.’
It was also alleged in court that Cho captured much of the footage by hanging mesh bags containing mobile phones on the back of staff toilet doors, which police allege he activated to capture hours of lewd footage.
One phone allegedly contained 4,500 intimate videos of staff members, the court heard.
One video file ran for more than three hours and allegedly captured various hospital staff in states of undress as they used the toilet, the court heard.
Cho was granted bail with conditions including he must reside at a rental property with a parent under a curfew of 9pm to 6am.
He must report to Footscray police station three times a week and not leave the country.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
