S£xual health doctor ‘with special interest in penises’ jailed for secretly filming and abusing male patients

 A sxual health doctor who had a ‘special interest in penises’ has been jailed for six years after secretly filming and abusing male patients. Dr Timothy Girling, 55, was a practising sxual health doctor at a medical centre in Bournemouth, Dorset, where he preyed on male patients by groping and recording them during intimate examinations. The ‘deeply calculated’ medic exploited his position to ‘manipulate vulnerable individuals’ and carried out a series of sxual offences ‘under the guise of legitimate medical practice’, Bournemouth Crown Court heard. Girling was exposed after one male patient heard his iPhone start recording and noticed the device poking out of his pocket. Dorset Police launched an investigation in August 2023 and identified two further patients who had been sxually ass@ulted, one of whom had also been recorded. Officers examined the doctor’s devices and uncovered further recordings as well as 600 images of penises or ‘tight clothing’ and indecent images of children. He also set up a camera to film other men using a bathroom. The court was told Girling had been diagnosed as having autistic spectrum disorder, which led to him developing a ‘special area of interest’ in penises. A jury found Girling guilty of three counts of sxual ass@ult, six charges of voyeurism, and one of attempted voyeurism. He also pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children. The court was told Girling would sxually assault and perform sx acts on the patients under the guise of examining them for complaints of rashes or other health issues. A male patient first reported Girling to the police after he noticed him recording on his mobile phone during an examination. The victim took the doctor’s phone, and Girling ran out of the building. When police spoke to the patient, he also reported that he had been touched inappropriately by Girling at a previous appointment. Prosecutors said the doctor’s intimate physical examination went ‘far beyond what was clinically required’. At the time, the patient believed it was part of the medical procedure, and trusted that Girling was acting in a professional manner. But at the later appointment, he heard the sound of a mobile phone beginning to record and saw an iPhone partially concealed in Girling’s pocket. Rebecca Austin, prosecuting, told the trial that Girling was ‘using the guise of medical necessity to gain sexual gratification’. She added: ‘Patients went to the clinic with the expectation that they might need to be touched for their medical condition to be diagnosed and treated.’ One of the victims told police: ‘I left there crying because it was very wrong and he just abused his power.’ He added: ‘I was a very, very vulnerable person back then, I was in a really dark place.’ Ms Austin said Girling had been diagnosed as having autistic spectrum disorder and added: ‘Autism leads to developing special areas of interest and he had one in penises.’ Sentencing Girling, Judge Jonathan Fuller KC said the defendant had carried on offending despite having been suspended and reinstated following an earlier complaint. He added the defendant had also shown ‘weird’ behaviour of photographing men urinating in alleyways, which did not form part of the charges. He told the defendant: ‘Being a doctor is a significant thing in a person’s life and no doubt there must be many you have helped, but on another darker side, there are those you have abused.’The judge dismissed the defendant’s diagnosis of autism as the cause of his offending and told him: ‘Your interest was a sexual one and that sexual activity was of your own choosing. ‘The reality is you used your position to satisfy your particular sexual interests. This was a gross betrayal of your patients’ trust.’ Detective Constable Kit Little, of Dorset Police, said: ‘Timothy Girling was in a position of trust as a sexual health doctor and exploited this by inappropriately touching and making recordings of his victims. ‘We have worked tirelessly since the initial report was first made in August 2023 to investigate Girling’s offending, identify further victims where possible, and bring him to justice. ‘This would not have been possible without the strength and courage of the victims, who supported our investigation and the court process to ensure Girling was ultimately held to account.’ Lucy Paddick, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘A doctor’s duty is to care for patients, not exploit them, and Timothy Girling repeatedly violated that fundamental trust. ‘These sexual offences, carried out under the guise of legitimate medical practice, were deeply calculated. ‘He manipulated vulnerable individuals and exploited them in clinical settings – a place where they should feel safe and secure. ‘In court, we showed how he used his professional position to facilitate this offending and secretly record intimate examinations. ‘We hope these convictions demonstrate that such abuse of authority will be robustly prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service.’The post Sxual health doctor ‘with special interest in penises’ jailed for secretly filming and abusing male patients appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.