A sexual health doctor who used his clinical position to assault patients and covertly film them during medical appointments has been sentenced to six years in prison, after prosecutors established his offending formed part of a sustained pattern of abuse rather than isolated incidents.
Dr Timothy Girling, 55, of West Molesey in Surrey, carried out intimate examinations at a medical centre in Bournemouth during which he exploited the trust of patients attending routine appointments. In one case, he conducted a sexual health examination that went significantly beyond what was clinically necessary, touching a patient’s genitals without consent while the victim believed the contact formed part of a legitimate medical procedure.
During a subsequent appointment with the same patient, the victim heard a mobile phone begin to record from behind a curtain and spotted an iPhone partially concealed in Girling’s pocket. That discovery prompted an investigation which uncovered the true scale of his offending.
When officers from Dorset Police examined Girling’s phone, they found intimate images of multiple other patients, including one man who had attended the clinic over the course of a year. The investigation also revealed that Girling had encouraged a patient to send intimate images by email, and uncovered a secretly recorded video of another young patient filmed without consent during a brief appointment. Further covert recordings were recovered from inside Girling’s home address, which police said had no medical purpose and were made solely for his own gratification.
Girling was convicted by a jury of the voyeurism offences and subsequently pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. Category A images — the most serious classification — were among those found on his laptop.
In total, he was sentenced for three counts of sexual assault, six counts of voyeurism, one count of attempted voyeurism and three counts of making indecent images of children.
Lucy Paddick of the Crown Prosecution Service said Girling had “repeatedly violated” the fundamental trust placed in him as a doctor, describing his conduct as “deeply calculated” and carried out under “the guise of legitimate medical practice.”
Detective Constable Kit Little of Dorset Police said the force had worked “tirelessly” since the initial report was made in August 2023 and paid tribute to the victims for their courage in supporting the investigation and court process.
