Police committing sexual crimes

[Fishnut]

Lee is now publicly saying she's a scapegoat.

“I think it’s completely unfair that this case has been put on me when there was a chance to stop Couzens so much earlier,” Lee said. “They’ve thrown me under the bus so the Met can say ‘we’ve done something now’ and they’ll move on.”
...
Lee said: “Everyone’s just coming down on me – ‘Oh, this is on you.’ But it’s not me that went to the McDonald’s four days later, that’s the triaging system that organises that. It’s not me that vetted Couzens and let him into the police in the first place when he’d already been known for [allegedly] committing that sort of offence.

“Everyone’s dropping it down on me as a young female PC, and [not] all the top brass and men who are higher up who have put the rules in place for this to all happen as it did, regarding the appointments, and the actual policies and the processes.”

She described the lack of training she was given regarding indecent exposure cases, which surely reflects the low importance the Met places on these sorts of cases.

She said she had never received training on indecent exposure and had only responded to three cases in five years of frontline policing... She said her lack of training meant she did not realise the importance of Couzens’s meal receipts and written statements from the McDonald’s witnesses, which she did not log.

I think the guilty verdict was correct but I also think that the fact that Lee is so far the only one who's seen any consequences for Couzens speaks volumes about the Met's inability to properly look at itself and reflect on how it allowed Couzens to feel permitted to commit his heinous crimes.

[Fishnut]

Meanwhile, ex-Met officers admit plot to share child sexual abuse images with senior officer.

Two retired Metropolitan police officers have admitted a three-year plot to share child sexual abuse images with a serving Met chief inspector, who was found dead before he was charged.

Jack Addis, 63, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court in London on Thursday to a charge of conspiring with Richard Watkinson, 49, to distribute or show indecent images of children.

[Sciolus]

Not actually a police officer-- merely the director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), until he was forced to resign as the investigation proceeded -- Michael Lockwood has been charged with six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape against a girl under the age of 16. He denies the charges.

Just a bad apple. Allegedly.

[jimbob]

The US this time.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mississi ... cb99902e70

The announcement comes months after Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker said deputies from the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department burst into a home without a warrant. The men said deputies beat them, assaulted them with a sex toy and shocked them repeatedly with Tasers in a roughly 90-minute period during the Jan. 24 episode, Jenkins and Parker said.

[Sciolus]

Another one for the record (from 20 June):

A former Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and a fellow police officer.

Adam Provan, 44, of Newmarket, Suffolk, was convicted of six counts of raping the woman between 2003 and 2005.

He was also convicted of two counts of raping the teenager following a retrial. He met her on a blind date after lying about his age in 2010.

The offences happened while he was in the Met's East Area Command Unit.

Let's remind ourselves again of the wise words of Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh: “I think it is a bit disingenuous to say there could be another David Carrick or Wayne Couzens in the Met Police. I don’t think we will see another person like that in the police.”

[Fishnut]

Metropolitan police officer Adam Provan has been jailed for 16 years after being convicted of six counts of rape of a female police officer while they were in a relationship and two counts of raping a 16 year old girl in 2010. She's now 29, just to emphasise how f.cking slowly the wheels of justice turn.

The woman complained to the Met about stalking and harassment by Provan in 2005. In a statement, she said she was labelled by fellow officers as a “griefy plonk”, making her reluctant to make a full statement at the time. She only came forward to report the rapes in 2019.

...an inspector had told Provan he would not be arrested or cautioned, and the crime would be shown as being “cleared up”.

It's very telling who the Met chose to protect - given the choice between a male officer accused of crimes and a female officer alleging she was a victim of crimes they chose to protect the perpetrator.

These women have fought hard to get this guy jailed.

Provan’s first trial for double rape ended in a hung jury but he was convicted in 2018 and jailed for nine years. The next year, he was dismissed from the Metropolitan police.

He served three years and three months in prison – only to be released on bail after the court of appeal quashed the conviction.

At the fresh trial, Taylor gave evidence for a third time, and six more charges of rape, relating to Provan’s earlier attacks on the female officer, were added.

[Fishnut]

This is a sexual crime on a whole other level: undercover UK police officer deceived woman into 19-year relationship.

'Mary' met a man in 2001. He was 'charismatic but quiet' and they started dating in the early 2000s. He 'tried to win the family over', bringing her mum flowers and helping her dad when he needed a new car among other things. They had a serious, long-term relationship, and after a few years they had a son.

The man, who is not named or given a pseudonym, made 'Mary' believe that he was a businessman. In fact, he was an undercover police officer. There is no evidence that he was investigating Mary or anyone in her family, yet he used a fake identity for the entirety of their relationship, even using it on the birth certificate of their son.

In 2020 they got engaged and it was at this point that 'Mary' finally learned the truth.

In contrast, Avon and Somerset police, who were his employers, knew about the relationship in 2013. Around the same time, he left the police. Why and whether the relationship had anything to do with his departure is unclear. What is clear, is that the police didn't tell 'Mary' for another SEVEN YEARS. When they did, they "consistently put pressure" on the family to not speak publicly about the relationship, "warning of the risk of social unrest if the news got out".

The family have now concluded that they have been manipulated twice by police. First by an undercover officer who inveigled his way into their lives using a fake identity, in an extraordinarily callous intrusion that has irrevocably changed their lives. And latterly by his superiors, who have put pressure on them to collude in what the family allege is a cover-up.

I have no words.

[Boustrophedon]

And another.

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with six counts of rape, one count of making threats to kill and a count of breaching a non-molestation order.

PC Cliff Mitchell, 23, has been suspended from duty and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66737880

[purplehaze]

These crimes by the police are shocking. How 'Mary' was treated after the fact will forever live in my mind.

Re the multiple rape of a woman by Cliff Mitchell, who is only 23 years old is also reprehensible.

A member of the public saw a woman in distress on Tuesday, and helped her into her car, the court was told.

The woman was found at about 13:50 BST in the street in Hackbridge, Sutton, south-west London.

She was found in the afternoon in a state of distress.

A friend who moved to Los Angeles was followed by an off duty police man when she went running in the morning, he did several turns on her run and constantly talked to her. A car with two women stopped and got her in because by then she was clearly in distress, they got her home safely. She did report it but it led to nowhere. He had previous form for doing this.

[Fishnut]

From the Guardian,

A serving police officer incited more than 200 girls as young as 10 to share explicit images and videos of themselves with him via Snapchat, a court has heard.

Lewis Edwards, 24, who was suspended from the police force after he was caught and subsequently resigned, sometimes posed as a 14-year-old boy called James when he contacted girls and got them to carry out sexual acts.
...
Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, said Edwards had joined South Wales police in January 2021 and the majority of the offences happened when he was an officer.
...
He would secretly record the girls and when they refused to comply with further requests, would blackmail them to force them to provide more images. “He would say he was going to post images he had on social media platforms to friends and family,” Griffiths said.
...
Edwards has admitted 162 offences relating to child sex abuse.

I know it's only a small thing in the scheme of things, but I will never understand why officers who get caught in situations like this are allowed to resign.

The impact on the victims can't be overstated. One (aged 13 and 14 at the time of her contact with Edwards) considered suicide,

The mother of another victim, who was 12, said her daughter started sleeping with a hammer under her pillow believing Edwards’ threats. “She slept with a hammer she had taken from her dad’s toolbox under her pillow because she didn’t feel safe in her home with all the doors locked and secured,” the mother said. “She feels dirty and ashamed.”

Another mother said in a statement: “As a family we always told our children to respect and trust the police, what do we tell them now? As a family we believe he used his position and targeted innocent children.”

Several victims said their trust of the police had been shattered.

[jimbob]

From the Guardian,

A serving police officer incited more than 200 girls as young as 10 to share explicit images and videos of themselves with him via Snapchat, a court has heard.

Lewis Edwards, 24, who was suspended from the police force after he was caught and subsequently resigned, sometimes posed as a 14-year-old boy called James when he contacted girls and got them to carry out sexual acts.
...
Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, said Edwards had joined South Wales police in January 2021 and the majority of the offences happened when he was an officer.
...
He would secretly record the girls and when they refused to comply with further requests, would blackmail them to force them to provide more images. “He would say he was going to post images he had on social media platforms to friends and family,” Griffiths said.
...
Edwards has admitted 162 offences relating to child sex abuse.

I know it's only a small thing in the scheme of things, but I will never understand why officers who get caught in situations like this are allowed to resign.

The impact on the victims can't be overstated. One (aged 13 and 14 at the time of her contact with Edwards) considered suicide,

The mother of another victim, who was 12, said her daughter started sleeping with a hammer under her pillow believing Edwards’ threats. “She slept with a hammer she had taken from her dad’s toolbox under her pillow because she didn’t feel safe in her home with all the doors locked and secured,” the mother said. “She feels dirty and ashamed.”

Another mother said in a statement: “As a family we always told our children to respect and trust the police, what do we tell them now? As a family we believe he used his position and targeted innocent children.”

Several victims said their trust of the police had been shattered.

Fixed your link
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... ourt-hears

Agree entirely with you on this

[Fishnut]

Fixed your link
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... ourt-hears

Agree entirely with you on this

Thanks

[Woodchopper]

I know it's only a small thing in the scheme of things, but I will never understand why officers who get caught in situations like this are allowed to resign.

Good question and I had a quick Google. The regulations were changed in the The Police (Conduct, Complaints and Misconduct and Appeal Tribunal) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/201 ... tents/made

Before then an officer subject to a disciplinary proceeding had to ask permission to resign. That requirement was removed. However, as happened in this case disciplinary proceedings can continue after the resignation.

I haven’t found a rationale for the change. But I’ll speculate that it has the benefit that the officer who resigned won’t be paid a salary while they wait for the outcome.

In one sense resignation wouldn’t save them from punishment as the alternative is that they’d be dismissed. They have still lost their job and the continuing disciplinary proceeding would damage their reputation (assuming it went against them).But allowing them to resign may well give the appearance that they’ve escaped punishment.

[kerrya1]

I've been reading this thread and wondering if anyone was keeping count of how many officers were accused and/or convicted of sexual offences, and it seems that the BBC has been doing the same, at least for the ones guilty of child sex offences:

Police paedophiles: More than 30 guilty since January 2022

I wonder how many more simply haven't been caught yet or are still slowly grinding through the criminal justice system.

[Fishnut]

Former Merseyside Police PC Adam Hoyle has been jailed for four years after being found guilty of two count of misconduct in public office and two charges of unauthorised access to computer material. He had already admitted to three other counts of misconduct in public office.

According to the IOPC,

We found evidence of a pattern of unprofessional behaviour towards vulnerable women. He formed inappropriate relationships with three women he met after they reported being a victim of crime.

In two of these cases, PC Hoyle visited them while on duty, and travelled in a police vehicle, to have sex. On one of those occasions, in October 2016, he was supposed to be looking for a high-risk missing person at the time.

As with so many of these cases, Hoyle was allowed to resign rather than be sacked.

[shpalman]

Inspector Adam Syred

It was found that on several dates the officer failed to maintain an appropriate professional boundary with junior female colleagues and/or behaved in an inappropriately familiar manner. It was also found that he made inappropriate sexual or personal comments to junior female colleagues and/or members of the public, and that he touched junior female colleagues and/or members of the public in a way which was unwanted and/or inappropriately personal.

Inspector Syred was cleared of breaching the standards of professional behaviour in respect of one allegation. He was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in 18 allegations, in which nine were found to be misconduct and seven of gross misconduct. Two of the allegations were proven but were not found to be misconduct or gross misconduct.

https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023- ... colleagues

[Lew Dolby]

and another.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -suspended

[Boy, am I glad I don't live in London any more.]

[jimbob]

From International Skeptics

Police officers accused of subjecting seven women to abuse including rapes, beatings, and psychological torment were allegedly protected by their force, with two appointed to roles protecting women from assault and harm

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... even-women

Two of the seven women are serving or ex police officers. That they are taking a class action against D&C means this has real clout. I think this could be the biggest payout in police history.

https://www.internationalskeptics.com/f ... st14258037

Nessie was a motorcycle cop and as you can see, has got increasingly disgusted with what has come to light.

[kerrya1]

To Catch a Copper on channel 4 right now (https://www.channel4.com/programmes/to-catch-a-copper) is a depressing watch, so many cops engaging in unprofessional and abusive behaviour but very few of them face consequences of any kind. As time goes on my trust in the police as a whole is being worn away and I have very little left now.

[Fishnut]

Another semi-regular round-up of police committing sexual crimes...

Probationary police constable Jordan Masterson has been jailed for three and a half years for misconduct in a public office after having sex with a woman while responding to a 999 call. The victim had called the police to report a disturbance. She was drunk and crying and while Masterson was wearing a body camera, he turned it off. He then had sex with the woman.

We get the usual 'bad apple' excuse,

Cheshire Constabulary Deputy Chief Constable Chris Armitt said: "While I understand the concern that this case may cause, the overwhelming majority of our officers are professional, dedicated individuals who act with integrity and work hard to keep Cheshire safe.

Police constable Andrew Bedding has pleaded not guilty to three counts of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards three former partners.

Metropolitan police officer Isaque Rodrigues-Leite as been jailed for two years and three months after being found guilt of four counts of false imprisonment, two counts of common assault, one count of criminal damage, and one of coercive control.

While a serving officer, PC Isaque Rodrigues-Leite trapped his wife in a caravan and a bedroom, hit her with a car, and threatened her with a knife.

The trial heard that during arguments he told her "no one will believe you because I am a police officer".

The pair met in 2010 and then married in 2014. The early years of the relationship were described as "toxic" and the court was told the abuse "got really bad" in the months after Rodrigues-Leite joined the Met in March 2019.

Metropolitan police officer Thomas Thorpe has been found guilty of three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child as well as attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He was also found guilty of attempting to cause a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and to look at an image of sexual activity. Fortunately, the online conversations weren't with an actual 12 year old girl, as he thought, but an undercover police officer. He will be sentenced on 14 May 2024.

[jimbob]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/m ... e-32525183

More details in twitter thread (including link to misconduct report)

https://x.com/AVintenAuthor/status/1776306355412123990

@metpoliceuk
SERGEANT Daniel Fletcher sexually assaults a PC who accuses him of bullying her.

The misconduct found the allegation of sexual assault proven. Obviously he’s been fired??

He receives a DEMOTION >>>