Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, a Queens (NYC) doctor, sentenced for drugging and sexually assaulting seven women in a hospital and in his own home – and filming said attacks – apparently He also abused a patient who was connected to a have-to-like support and finally died, according to a new complaint.
The 47-year-old woman – identified as “victim 2” in the case – was dying in the Unique York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in May 2022 when Dr. Cheng recorded himself groping her breasts and genitals, according to court documents in the case.
In 2023, Dr. Cheng was accused in Queens (NYC) of drugging and sexually assaulting several women, including his own patients and others he contacted through Info superhighway, and of recording the attacks. In June 2025 pleaded guilty of four counts of rape and three counts of sexual abuse. Later in August it was sentenced to serve a sentence of 24 years in prison and 10 years of supervision after his release.
The doctor “recorded himself sexually assaulting the woman, who was unconscious, connected to a ventilator and a feeding tube, and near the end of her life,” said attorney Nicholas Liakas, whose firm sued the Flushing hospital in 2023 on behalf of four of Cheng’s victims.
After the death of this patient, her family decided not to continue with the lawsuitmotivated by the desire to preserve their privacy, Liakas explained. However, his correct signature continues to demand hospital accountability and that further investigation be carried out to determine the true extent of the crimes committed.
Another victim was a 19-year-old girl. that she was hospitalized to undergo gallbladder removal; According to hospital documents cited in court records, this patient was allegedly groped by Cheng in June 2021, after he sneaked into her room, located in the pediatric area.
He told the patient that he had a stomach doctor and injected something into her IV. Cheng also recorded that assault, the documents revealed. The doctor remained in the room for 19 minutes. The teenager woke up with the sensation that “someone was twisting and pulling her lower belly” and “she does not remember what happened to her,” according to the records.
Another mother of four children told Unique York Put up who was in the hospital for a routine procedure in 2021 when she woke up to find Cheng assaulting her with his hands.
Four victims were listed under the pseudonym “Jane Doe” in separate lawsuits filed in 2023 in Queens Supreme Court against the doctor, the hospital and their employees. The cases are still ongoing.
“We are requesting that another entity investigate,” declared Cassandra Rohme, partner of Liakas. “It cannot be just us who try to change things so that Going to the hospital is safer for Queens residents.”
A hospital spokeswoman called the crimes “atrocious.” and stated: “We are deeply sorry for everything the victims and their families have had to endure.” “We have worked closely with law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office to advance this investigation and ensure justice is served,” the statement said. “Significant improvements have been implemented to enhance patient safety, which includes the additional strengthening of our incident escalation, investigation and support policies, along with mandatory training and an increase in staff.”
A spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz recalled that Cheng was convicted. “The objectives of an ethical, fair and effective criminal action are to hold the accused accountable for their crimes, provide justice to their victims and protect the public,” the statement stated. “Those objectives have been met.”
Other similar cases in the tri-state area
In July 2025, Richard B. Tancer, a family doctor in New Jersey’s Bergen County, was charged on suspicion of sexual assault, prosecutors said.
In May of last year, a second compensation of $750 million was agreed upon by Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital for hundreds of complaints of sexual abuse filed by patients of gynecologist Robert Hadden, who in 2023 was sentenced to 20 years in prison. That amount raised the total legal awards in civil cases involving Hadden to more than $1 billion dollars, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Anthony T. DiPietro.
In November 2024, Dr. Darius A. Paduch was sentenced to life in prison for abusing adult male patients and children in his urology offices in New York. In the summer of that year, anesthesiologist Paul Giacopelli lost his doctor’s license in New York after pleading guilty to drugging and sexually abusing his family’s babysitter while she slept in their home.
In 2022, the Argentine doctor Ricardo Cruciani, who had been accused of sexual abuse of several patients in New York, Jersey and Pennsylvania, committed suicide in New York’s Rikers prison.
In recent years there has been a alarming increase in rapes in homes and streets, including minor and elderly victims in the five boroughs of NYC. According to the police, Most sexual abuse remains unreported.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) published a study in 2020 that rates the sexual violence in older adults as “an important public health problem with a great impact on the victims and their peers, their descendants and the community”, but which has been little investigated.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
Seek help
- Call 911, 988 or to (800)-942-6906.
- Send the text “WELL” to 65173.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and www.thehotline.org
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ www.988lineadevida.org https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c87g2n139e9o