Doctor with ‘particular curiosity in penises’ jailed after assaulting male sufferers
Sexual health doctor Dr Timothy Girling was convicted at Bournemouth Crown Court of sexually assaulting male patients under the guise of medical examinations and voyeurism offences
Timothy Girling was jailed for sexually assaulting male patients
A sexual health doctor who harboured a “special interest in penises” has been jailed for six years after sexually assaulting male patients in a “gross betrayal” of their trust.
Dr Timothy Girling, from West Molesey, Surrey, was found guilty by jurors at Bournemouth Crown Court on three sexual assault charges involving four patients, six voyeurism counts and one attempted voyeurism charge.
The 55 year old also admitted three counts of creating indecent images of children. The court heard that 600 photographs of penises or “tight clothing” were discovered on his electronic devices.
Girling would sexually assault patients and carry out sex acts on them whilst pretending to examine them for complaints about rashes or other medical problems, the court was told.
He also secretly used his iPhone to record the consultations and had installed a camera to film other men in a toilet.
Prosecutor Rebecca Austin told jurors that Girling was “using the guise of medical necessity to gain sexual gratification”.
She continued: “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 victim informed police: “I left there crying because it was very wrong and he just abused his power.”
He continued: “I was a very, very vulnerable person back then, I was in a really dark place.”
Ms Austin revealed that Girling had received a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder and explained: “Autism leads to developing special areas of interest and he had one in penises.”
During sentencing, Judge Jonathan Fuller KC noted that the defendant had continued his offending behaviour despite being suspended and later reinstated following a previous complaint.
The judge also highlighted the defendant’s “weird” conduct of taking photographs of men urinating in alleyways, though this didn’t feature in the formal charges.
He addressed the defendant directly: “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 rejected the defendant’s autism diagnosis as an explanation for his criminal behaviour, stating: “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.”
He concluded: “This was a gross betrayal of your patients’ trust.”
