Parents Sue Ohio Hospitals After Children's Intimate Medical Images Surface in Doctor's Cloud Account

Families of 13 children have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Michigan federal court, alleging that close-up medical photographs of children's genitals and other sensitive images taken by former paediatric urologist Bryan Shanley Sack were improperly stored in his personal Dropbox account.

The complaint, brought on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges that two Ohio hospital systems failed to protect young patients and prevent clinical photographs from being kept outside approved medical systems.

Sack was arrested in February and later charged federally with receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. He has pleaded not guilty. Those criminal charges are separate from the allegations made in the civil lawsuit.

Images Found in Doctor's Cloud Account

An FBI affidavit cited in the complaint says investigators found photographs and videos of paediatric surgical procedures in Sack's Dropbox account, including close-up medical images of children's genitals.

According to the affidavit, the account also contained 1,291 files identified as meeting the federal definition of child pornography and another 27,864 files described as age-inappropriate or exploitative material involving children.

The presence of medical photographs in the account does not establish that those images were themselves illegal. It has also not been confirmed whether images of all 13 children involved in the lawsuit were recovered or whether any patient photographs were shared.

The children, identified under pseudonyms, were examined or treated by Sack, primarily at Nationwide Children's Hospital – Toledo. Some were infants or toddlers.

According to the complaint, several parents reported seeing Sack use what they believed was a mobile phone to take photographs during examinations. The filing also describes occasions when children underwent examinations or procedures without their parents present, sometimes while under anaesthesia.

David Champine, an attorney representing families involved in the case, said it remained unclear exactly which children appeared in the recovered photographs or whether the images had been distributed.

Parents Demand Answers on Hospital Safeguards

The lawsuit names Nationwide Children's Hospital and Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center among the hospital defendants. Nationwide's Toledo operation provides paediatric services on the Mercy Health campus.

The families allege failures involving supervision, chaperones during sensitive examinations and controls over the use and storage of clinical images. Their claims include negligence, invasion of privacy, emotional distress and alleged fraudulent concealment. None of those claims has been established by a court.

Nationwide Children's dismissed Sack following his February arrest. Responding to the lawsuit, it said patient safety, well-being and privacy were priorities and that multiple law enforcement agencies had told it the criminal charges were unrelated to his clinical work.

The hospital's statement addressed the criminal charges. The separate civil complaint alleges improper handling of medical photographs and failures of hospital oversight. Those allegations remain unresolved.

Families Seek Millions and Review of Imaging Practices

The families seek more than $5 million (£3,740,415) in damages and class-action status for a proposed group estimated at 1,000 to 2,500 former patients. They also want potentially affected patients notified, imaging practices audited and counselling funded.

Sack's federal criminal trial is currently scheduled for 12 January 2027. The civil complaint also asks that patient images be identified and surrendered, with evidence preserved for investigators and the courts before any destruction.