Celebrity osteopath who spied on thousands of women for more than a decade jailed

A celebrity osteopath who is thought to be one of London’s most prolific ever voyeurs was jailed for three years today, after he admitted taking intimate images and videos of thousands of women without their knowledge.

Torben Stig Hersborg, 64, of Tower Hamlets, London, took secret pictures and videos of approximately 2,000 women in his clinic, in public and private places and students living in university accommodations across London for more than a decade.

The scale of his offences – revealed for the first time in court today by prosecutors – suggests he is one of the capital’s most prolific ever voyeurs.

Hersborg, a Danish national, boasts a string of high-profile celebrity clients including TV personalities and Olympians, and has been pictured with some of the nation’s most famous faces.

He was jailed for three years and five months after prosecutors built a strong case against him, even though victims couldn’t be identified, and as a result he pleaded guilty to eight serious charges at the earliest possible opportunity.

Alex Weichselbaum of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “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.

“His meticulously planned acts included setting up secret cameras in his clinic and covertly filming women - both in public and when they thought they were in the privacy of their own homes.

“Hersborg deliberately abused the trust of his unwitting patients by filming them in intimate positions and targeted strangers for his own sexual gratification.

“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.”

A phone call to the police:

In December 2024, a member of the public contacted the police after they spotted a suspicious vehicle outside university accommodation in Islington, north London.

Hersborg was seen in the back seat of a dark Lexus wearing black gloves and sat on seats lined with black plastic bags. A search of the vehicle found a telescope in the footwell and a video camera with black tape around the lens, pointed at students living inside.

A hard drive, SD cards and recording device were all recovered and analysed after Hersborg was arrested and were found to contain thousands of files containing images and videos of victims.

It soon became clear that women were filmed without their knowledge in Hersborg’s private practice in Old Street, at beaches, on footpaths, waiting at bus stops or for the tube and when they were in their own homes.

Some pictures and videos showed victims undressing in their bedrooms and bathrooms. On two videos found on his SD cards, women were filmed having sexual intercourse without their knowledge.

Building an evidence-led case:

Despite not being able to identify any of the women who appear in the videos and photographs, nor obtain statements from them, prosecutors were determined to secure justice for every one of Hersborg’s victims.

By focusing on the digital material, which showed thousands of different women being filmed and photographed without their knowledge, the Crown Prosecution Service focused on an evidence-led approach which identified consistent patterns of offending.

They built a picture of Hersborg’s motive – which over a 12-year period consistently saw him use secret or concealed cameras to focus on intimate areas of the body or when women were in private situations in their home.

Working closely with officers from the Metropolitan Police, the prosecution team was able to bring an overwhelming volume of digital evidence to court at the first hearing in December 2024, which saw Hersborg plead guilty to multiple voyeurism charges.

After his devices were analysed by officers, Hersborg was later charged with five further counts of voyeurism and admitted all of these offences at a separate court hearing in January 2025.