Paedophile doctor struck off after string of sexual crimes against children

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A former doctor has been struck off after being convicted of a string of sexual offences against children.

Timothy Edwin Lloyd, a former consultant surgeon at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, was erased from the medical register at a tribunal last week, which heard he received a suspended prison sentence after admitting to a number of crimes, including performing a sex act on camera to 12-year-olds.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing stated: “The offences consisted of Dr Lloyd engaging in sexualised conversation and masturbating on camera in chatrooms on multiple occasions in 2021.

“Dr Lloyd believed the others in the chatroom to be children aged 12 and 13, however they were undercover police officers seeking to identify offenders.”

Lloyd pleaded guilty to, between February and April 2021, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and two counts of attempting sexual communications with a child.

At Truro Crown Court in February, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was put on the sex offenders register for a decade.

The tribunal, which concluded on 13 October, subsequently found the 42-year-old’s fitness to practise is impaired and ordered his immediate suspension over the course of the 28-day appeal period.

If Lloyd does not appeal the tribunal’s decision, he will not be able to practise as a doctor for at least five years, when he will have a right to apply for his name to be restored to the medical register.

Lloyd initially qualified as a dentist and later also as a doctor. He then undertook specialist training as a registrar in head and neck surgery and was practising as a consultant maxillofacial surgeon – who specialise in surgery for the face, head, neck, and jaw – at the Royal Cornwall Hospital at the time of the incidents.

Initial concerns about Lloyd were raised with the General Medical Council in May 2021 by Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, a day after the force arrested him. A Royal Cornwall Hospital spokesperson said Lloyd had not practised at the hospital since that month.

They said: “We took appropriate and immediate employment actions on being notified of the police investigation. Mr Lloyd has not practised at our hospital since May 2021. The investigation did not raise concerns about Mr Lloyd’s conduct at work.”

Lloyd has been suspended from practising as a dentist since October 2022. In January, the High Court extended the order for a further 12 months. The General Dental Council said it is unable to comment on individual cases.