Bao Phuc Cao has been placed on the Victorian Sex Offenders Register for eight years. 

Although Cao’s current enrollment status is yet to be publicly confirmed, he was a biomedical student enrolled at the University of Melbourne at some point.

On March 13, Cao was sentenced to a 12-month adjourned undertaking without conviction, avoiding imprisonment after pleading guilty to secretly filming a woman beneath the cubicle walls of a public restroom in Docklands. 

Authorities found similar content of more than 100 women in Cao’s possession, which includes some he had non-consensually recorded at his RoomingKos shared accommodation. 

Prior to the March conviction, Cao had been prosecuted on two occasions for similar offences and had been sentenced to a community corrections order in May last year. 

Farrago contacted the University of Melbourne regarding Cao’s enrollment, and their efforts to ensure students are safe on and around campus. 

“We have legally binding confidentiality and privacy obligations that prevent us from confirming any details regarding individual students." 

“The University has support and processes in place to manage situations where a member of the University community may pose a health and safety risk to the wellbeing of students and staff. These can include disciplinary processes, bans from attending campus and other measures to manage risk and support the safety and wellbeing of our community,” a University of Melbourne spokesperson stated. 

Being on the registry means Cao will now have reporting obligations to Victoria Police including in regard to changes of personal information and requests to travel. 

This can also prohibit Cao from working in certain industries including child-related roles, such as in schools, and living in certain establishments like public housing.

This register in Victoria is not public.

Image source: Herald Sun