What to know:
- Families of 13 children have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against pediatric urologist Bryan Shanley Sack, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center.
- The lawsuit alleges improper photography and recording: Sack allegedly photographed or recorded children’s genitals outside legitimate medical purposes and transferred sensitive clinical images to personal devices and cloud-storage accounts.
- Some alleged victims were infants and toddlers. The children reportedly underwent examinations or surgeries while undressed, separated from their parents or under anesthesia.
- Investigators reportedly found thousands of files: An FBI affidavit cited in the lawsuit states that Sack’s Dropbox account contained 1,291 files meeting the federal definition of child pornography and another 27,864 files described as age-difficult or exploitative material involving children.
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Families of 13 children are suing a Michigan pediatric urologist and two hospital systems, alleging the doctor exploited his access to young patients and that the hospitals failed to protect children from improper photography and the removal of sensitive medical images.
The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed on Wednesday (Nov. 4) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, names Bryan Shanley Sack, M.D., Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center LLC as defendants.
The complaint alleges Sack photographed or recorded children’s genitals outside legitimate medical purposes, transferred clinical images to personal devices and cloud-storage accounts, and kept them alongside thousands of files of child sexual abuse material.
Sack has pleaded not guilty to federal child pornography charges in a separate criminal case.
Thirteen children, identified under pseudonyms, and their parents and legal guardians brought the lawsuit.
The families allege the children were examined, photographed, or operated on by Sack while he worked as a pediatric urologist, primarily at Nationwide Children’s Hospital – Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.
Some of the children were infants and toddlers.
The complaint describes examinations and surgeries during which children were undressed, separated from their parents, or under anesthesia.
According to an FBI affidavit cited in the lawsuit, investigators found 1,291 files meeting the federal definition of child pornography and another 27,864 files described as material that was age-difficult or exploitative of children in Sack’s Dropbox account.
The account contained more than 850 gigabytes of data, including images and videos of pediatric surgical procedures depicting close-up views of children’s genitals, according to the affidavit.
The FBI said Sack’s former employer told investigators that storing clinical images and videos on personal devices or cloud accounts violated the terms of his hospital employment.
Investigators also identified four internet protocol addresses used to access the Dropbox account.
Three were associated with Sack’s residence in Ann Arbor, while another was linked to a Mercy Health network in Toledo, according to the affidavit.
The lawsuit alleges the hospital systems failed to enforce safeguards that could have prevented the unauthorized capture, storage, and transmission of patient images.
Those alleged failures include allowing Sack to conduct sensitive examinations without chaperones, use a personal cellphone during examinations, separate children from their parents, and retain clinical images outside hospital-controlled systems.
The plaintiffs also allege the hospitals failed to monitor their computer networks adequately, investigate potential warning signs, and respond to complaints about Sack’s conduct.
Nationwide Children’s terminated Sack in February 2026 after his arrest.
The hospital publicly stated at the time that law enforcement told it the charges were unrelated to his clinical work, including at its Toledo facility.
The complaint alleges the hospital also reassured at least one family that no patients had been affected.
Plaintiffs contend those assurances were misleading because investigators later disclosed that pediatric surgical images existed in Sack’s personal cloud-storage account.
Sack was charged in federal court in May 2026 with receiving and possessing child pornography.
A grand jury returned a two-count indictment on May 20, alleging that he committed the offenses between April 2025 and February 2026.
He pleaded not guilty. His federal trial is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2027, according to the criminal docket.
The civil lawsuit alleges the charged period overlapped with Sack’s employment at Nationwide Children’s and his treatment of several of the children named in the complaint.
The families are seeking class-action status for potentially 1,000 to 2,500 patients who were treated, examined, or operated on by Sack at hospital facilities or in Michigan.
The proposed classes include patients whose images were recovered from Sack’s accounts or devices, as well as parents and legal guardians seeking damages and other relief.
The lawsuit asserts federal claims under laws providing civil remedies for victims of child sexual exploitation, along with Michigan claims involving invasion of privacy, negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring and retention, fraudulent concealment, and emotional distress.
The plaintiffs seek at least $5 million in aggregate damages, as well as damages for individual plaintiffs, attorney fees, and other costs.
They also ask a judge to order Sack to identify and preserve all patient images in his possession, identify any accounts or individuals to whom the images were transmitted, and permanently destroy the images after preserving them for law enforcement and the court.
The families want the hospital defendants to notify all potentially affected patients, preserve medical records and images, conduct independent audits of their clinical imaging and security practices, and fund counseling for affected children and families.
The complaint also alleges that the hospitals marketed their Toledo pediatric services to families in southeast Michigan, including patients who traveled from Michigan for specialty care.
That regional relationship is part of the plaintiffs’ argument that the federal court in Michigan has jurisdiction over the hospital defendants.
