A Manhattan Beach therapist who hid a camera in a women's bathroom and recorded girls as young as 8 was sentenced Tuesday, Sept. 29, to 200 months in federal prison.

Joseph Toews, 31, pleaded guilty June 23 to one count of production of child pornography, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. NBC Los Angeles first reported the sentencing. U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. also fined Toews $50,000, ordered a $55,000 special assessment and imposed 25 years of supervised release after the prison term.

The 200-month sentence amounts to 16 years and eight months behind bars.

Court documents identified Toews as an associate marriage and family therapist who worked at Neuro Wellness Spa in Manhattan Beach, KTLA reported. In January 2023, he placed a video-recording device inside a bathroom stall in the building where he worked, according to the DOJ. The device captured at least 11 videos of minors. Some of those victims had received therapy services from Toews, including play therapy.

The victims were between the ages of 8 and 12, according to an FBI release at the time of Toews' arrest, as the Daily Breeze reported.

"This was deliberate and required a level of premeditation," Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Mpare Jr. said during the sentencing hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In his plea agreement, Toews said he purchased sexually explicit videos of children through darknet online stores between January 2023 and December 2025, according to the DOJ. Federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Toews' conduct was premeditated and that he had been stockpiling child sexual abuse material before producing his own.

Toews has been in federal custody since April 14. Federal investigators searched his Playa Vista residence in December 2025 and recovered digital devices allegedly containing child sexual abuse material, according to KTLA's earlier arrest coverage.

Neuro Wellness Spa said in a statement after Toews' arrest that it was shocked, that Toews worked at the company for less than two years and that the spa does not treat patients younger than 12.

The company said it was unaware of his actions and that no cameras or recording devices were installed at its facility, according to KTLA. Court documents and the DOJ press release, however, state that some minor victims received therapy from Toews.

At the time of Toews' arrest, the FBI asked anyone with information about additional victims to contact its Los Angeles field office at 310-477-6565 or submit tips at tips.fbi.gov.