Celebrity osteopath who secretly filmed women jailed in London
Torben Stig Hersborg surrounded himself with famous friends and clients but led a double life as “one of the capital’s most prolific ever voyeurs.”
The Danish national, 64, of Tower Hamlets, London, was jailed for three years and five months in prison for filming and photographing around 2,000 women across London for more than a decade.
Hersborg was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after admitting he took images of thousands of women without their knowledge at his private practice in Old Street in central London.
He also preyed on women at beaches, on footpaths, waiting for public transport, and even when they were in their own homes. Victims included students living in university accommodations in London.
Evidence provided to the court suggests he is “one of the capital’s most prolific ever voyeurs,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Hersborg is a well-known and connected osteopath who boasted of high-profile celebrity clients, including TV personalities and Olympic champions.
In one of the posts on his now deleted Instagram account, he poses with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who was described as his “childhood friend” by the British media.
Hersborg was a sought-after clinician before his arrest in December last year and his clients reportedly included Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance, musician Ronnie Wood, actress Anna Friel, and tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.
None of them is connected to the case, and the police were not able to identify any of the victims from the images. Hersborg pleaded guilty to eight counts of voyeurism.
“Operated in plain sight”
According to the prosecution, Hersborg planned his acts “meticulously” by setting up secret cameras in his clinic and covertly filming women, both in public and in the privacy of their homes.
“Hersborg operated in plain sight for too long and, having targeted thousands of women over 12 years, we believe the scale and significance of his offending makes him one of London’s most prolific voyeurs,” Alex Weichselbaum of the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Hersborg abused the trust of his unwitting patients by filming them in intimate positions and targeted strangers for his own sexual gratification, according to Weichselbaum.
“Women should be free to live their lives without unwanted intrusion – particularly from sexual offenders like Hersborg who deliberately chose to film or photograph them in their most private or intimate moments,” he said.
Hersborg was arrested after a member of the public notified the police about a suspicious vehicle outside university accommodation in Islington, north London.
He was wearing black gloves and sitting on top of black plastic bags in his Lexus, where police found a telescope and a video camera pointed at students living in a building nearby.
A hard drive, SD cards, and a recording device were also recovered and analyzed after Hersborg was arrested. Thousands of files were recovered, including images showing women undressing and two videos of them having sex.
