A 35-year-old New York City doctor, Zhi Alan Cheng, will spend more than two decades behind bars for raping and sexually abusing women, including his sedated patients, and filming the abuse.
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According to a release issued by Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz, Cheng was sentenced to 24 years in prison plus 10 years of post-release supervision. He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree rape and three counts of sexual abuse on June 30.
Additionally, Cheng entered an Alford plea to one count of sexual abuse. This means that he accepts a sentence for the charge while maintaining his innocence. He will be required to register as a sex offender, and his license has been suspended.
“I am grateful to my Special Victims Bureau and the NYPD Special Victims Squad for their painstaking work on this case,” DA Katz said. “It is most important to express gratitude to the brave survivor who came forward initially to report the defendant’s crimes, and the other victims who helped us to make sure no other women were hurt going forward.”
As part of his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped predatory sex assault charges, as reported by NBC4. Should he have gone to trial and been convicted, he could’ve faced a life sentence.
Doctor Arrested
Back on December 27, 2022, Zhi Alan Cheng was arrested for raping a woman in his Astoria apartment. The victim in question had discovered multiple videos showing her and other women being sexually assaulted by Cheng.
The Queens District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau launched an investigation and worked with New York-Presbyterian Queens. There, Cheng was employed at the time as a gastroenterologist.
A search warrant was executed on Cheng’s home. Authorities found multiple video recordings depicting him sexually abusing women at his apartment. Other videos showed him sexually abusing his unconscious female hospital patients, who had been sedated by him.
In total, he was charged with over 50 counts in connection with the crimes he committed against seven women.
Many, including some of Cheng’s survivors, criticized the sentencing, deeming it “light.”
“He can kind of rebuild his life because he’s fairly young,” a survivor told NBC4. “You have this obligation to victims of crime, and you’re just letting people off lightly like this. Why?”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.