Hypnotist ‘used insidious tactics’ to steal and sell women’s intimate photos
A hypnotist used “insidious tactics” to steal intimate photos of women, police said.
Robert Temple, 36, a theatre performer, hacked into private online accounts of women to steal nude photos and then sell them for thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency.
Temple, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was jailed for eight months at Teesside Crown Court after admitting two counts of hacking, three counts of fraud and one count of converting criminal property.
Temple was on tour this month and performances of his Red Raw show were scheduled for this week.
Det Insp Jonathan Naylor said: “This man was operating on an online forum to target women. He would receive a specific request and hack social media accounts in order to obtain personal and explicit photos in exchange for cryptocurrency.”
Last year 22,530 people reported their online accounts being hacked, with cyber criminals often obtaining information from data leaks and phishing, according to police.
Detectives suspect Temple may have preyed on more women than the two who have come forward. Although he did not use hypnotism for crime, police believe he exploited other skills from his stage show as part of his crimes.
“He didn’t have particular computing skills, so we think it was his ability to focus on people’s personal information that enabled him to work out passwords,” a source told the Daily Mail.
“He had a gift for social engineering which is undoubtedly part of his success as an entertainer, but unfortunately he’s exploited it in a very cruel manner.”
Annette Thomas, senior crown prosecutor at CPS East Midlands, said: “The actions of Robert Temple were utterly reprehensible.
“Using insidious tactics, he exploited these unsuspecting women by hacking into their social media accounts and sharing intimate images of them online, without their knowledge, all for financial greed.”
One of his victims, Ellie Norman, 29, from Lincolnshire, said Temple approached her on social media posing as a woman with several mutual friends who offered her modelling work.
In 2022, detectives from the East Midlands cyber-crime unit contacted Ms Norman to inform her Temple had used private photos to set up Snapchat, Instagram and Tinder accounts in her name.
Ms Norman told the Daily Mail: “They asked if I was involved in cryptocurrency. I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. But even though I’d done nothing wrong, for a moment I went into panic mode – I thought ‘Could I end up going to prison?’ It was really scary.
“Then they realised my social media and my email had been hacked by Temple. It’s scary to think what else he’s done with my identity and my photos, all without my knowledge.”
It emerged after Action Fraud alerted police to a forum in 2021 where anonymous users requested intimate photographs of specific, named women in return for payment in untraceable cryptocurrency.
Officers established that Temple had hacked into the Snapchat accounts of Ms Norman and a second woman to steal their photographs, including topless and nude pictures of the second individual.
‘What he’s done to me is appalling’
He then used one of his victim’s details to set up a cryptocurrency account to receive payments running into thousands of pounds.
Ms Norman, an IT support worker, added: “I never even met Temple, I’ve never even been to one of his shows, but what he’s done to me is appalling.
“I’ve got no idea what else he’s done with my photos and private information, who else he’s tried to con.”
Temple started performing magic shows as a child and later decided to specialise in hypnotism.
Last month he was in the news after persuading Bolton council to overturn a public safety ban on shows which include “hypnotism, mesmerism and any similar act which produces induced sleep or trance” that would make someone “susceptible to suggestion or direction” which dated back to 1982.
