Police sergeant ‘sent a naked selfie to sexual assault victim’

A policeMAN sent a woman a naked selfie hours after she told him she had been sexually assaulted, a disciplinary hearing was told yesterday.

Taking her statement in his police car, he allegedly said he was ‘getting aroused’ by her description of the attack.

The victim, known as Female A, told the hearing the sergeant said he wanted ‘to take me home and handcuff me to my bed’.

The sergeant, who has controversially been granted anonymity, is alleged to have said ‘fair play to the guy’ about the attacker adding: ‘i would have done the same myself.’

The hearing was told the incident came in March 2014 when the woman and her two sisters were on a night out in Hastings.

They were drinking in a wine bar when a man groped Female A.

cecily White, for Sussex police, said: ‘out of the blue she was touched. She was shocked and disgusted by it. it was completely unwanted and uninvited.’

The man was evicted from the bar and his victim went outside to report the attack to police.

The sergeant, who was on patrol in the town centre, sat the victim in the front of his car to take a witness statement.

But as he took her statement he allegedly made ‘sexually suggestive’ and ‘flirtatious’ remarks and told her he liked her short dress.

The victim told the tribunal: ‘He said he was getting aroused when i told him about my encounter with that guy in the bar.

‘He asked if i liked him. it was just weird. He was creepy. i was shocked. He was a police officer in uniform. Then the officer said he wanted to use his handcuffs on me, to take me home and handcuff me to my bed.’ She said she thought she had been reporting a sexual assault to someone she could trust.

‘The following morning i had a picture message on my phone of the sergeant naked,’ she added.

‘it showed him naked in a fulllength mirror. i was a bit shocked. My sister said, “You need to report it” but he was a police officer.’

Months later she bumped into the officer – known as pS X – in court when her attacker was convicted of sexual assault.

The officer allegedly asked her why she had not replied to his messages and again became ‘flirtatious and suggestive’.

The hearing was told the victim did not make a formal complaint because she was scared by a ‘man of power’ and had deleted evidence from her phone, including the selfie and flirty comments.

She reported the incident in 2020 when the officer’s name cropped up in an unconnected matter. He faces allegations of gross misconduct which could lead to the sack.

The granting of anonymity enraged campaigners.

Jayne Butler of Rape crisis said: ‘Granting anonymity to officers accused of misconduct does nothing to build up public trust. it speaks to a culture of misogyny, where the reputation of a police officer trumps the safety of women and girls.’

Sussex police was previously accused of presiding over a culture of secrecy when dozens of officers were dismissed after being granted anonymity or having disciplinary hearings in private.

Hastings police station was branded ‘the most sexist in Britain’ when a series of officers were accused of being sex pests.

The anonymity order was granted by the chairman of the disciplinary panel, Harry ireland – a retired solicitor.

Sussex police said it was for the independent panel chairman alone to determine whether any participant should be anonymised.

The hearing continues.

‘He said he was getting aroused’