Judge lowers bail for Las Vegas doctor facing sex charges

A judge reduced bail Wednesday for a Las Vegas doctor accused of videotaping himself having sex with patients.

District Judge Kathleen Delaney lowered bail for the 42-year-old Binh Minh Chung to $1 million, down from $5 million set by another judge last year.

Chung’s defense lawyer, Christopher Oram, had asked the judge to set bail at $50,000. If he made bail, Chung would perform office work for his sister, according to his lawyer, who declined to say whether Chung could afford the $1 million. The judge added that he must remain under house arrest, saying she had “grave concerns about (Chung’s) flight risk.”

Prosecutor Alex Chen argued that Chung could be a threat to victims while on house arrest, and he should stay behind bars.

“This is an individual who preyed on those who were closest to him,” Chen told the judge.

In December, Delaney dismissed 10 counts of administration of a drug to aid in the commission of a felony.

Prosecutors appealed the judge’s ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court, which transferred the case to the state’s Court of Appeals, where the case sits.

Chung still faces more than 20 charges including two counts of sexual assault, one count of battery with intent to commit sexual assault, one count attempt sexual assault, one count of open and gross lewdness, one count of first-degree kidnapping.

An indictment suggested Chung could have sedated patients with Ketamine or Midazolam, typically used before surgery.

Authorities launched an investigation in June after Chung’s now ex-wife became suspicious and snooped through his text messages and computers. The wife found several videos of her husband having sex with other women and with an underage girl.

The girl, along with Chung’s wife, reported the abuse and videos to police on June 4.

The girl testified before a grand jury that Chung was her family doctor and had convinced her to get treatment for acne. Sometime in July 2014, Chung picked her up from her house about 10 p.m. and drove her to his office for her third treatment, she said.

She received a shot in her arm and passed out, slipping in and out of consciousness.

The first time she could remember coming to the girl realized she was alone in an exam room, that her pants were off and that her feet were in stirrups. She lost consciousness again.

When she fully came to, about 3 a.m. the next day, it was from Chung waking her up, according to her testimony and police reports. The doctor told her she’d had a bad reaction to the acne treatment and drove her home.

While searching through Chung’s computers and hard drives, police found 10 videos of child pornography, the report said.

The Nevada Board of Medical Examiners has suspended his license.

It’s not the first time Chung has been accused of a sex-related crime.

He was arrested in 2006 in connection with a case of open and gross lewdness with a teenager, court records show. That charge was dismissed after Chung completed 100 hours of community service, along with impulse control classes.

The medical board filed a letter of concern against the doctor after the 2006 criminal case was opened. Chung’s license was not suspended during that investigation, Rich said.

Chung graduated from the University of Nevada School of Medicine in 2001 and completed his residency at the school’s affiliated hospitals in Las Vegas, according to medical board records. He was first licensed by the Nevada medical board in 2005.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker