Officer made false report that friend had sex with boy
Pc also made untrue claims about victim’s son yet was able to leave force without facing disciplinary hearing
A POLICE officer began a two-year campaign of harassment against a friend during which she falsely accused her of mistreating her own child and having sex with a 14-year-old boy.
However, Pc Kelly Jarvis was allowed to resign from Cleveland Police on health grounds before being subjected to disciplinary action, thereby safeguarding her pension rights.
Pc Jarvis, 38, entered false claims on her police force computer after falling out with Fiona Miller. The pair met when the officer began stabling her horses at a farm owned by Ms Miller’s husband, near Ormesby Hall.
A police report found that on four separate occasions Pc Jarvis made false claims to the NSPCC, the child protection agency, of Ms Miller mistreating her own child. She also sent texts to Ms Miller claiming her husband was having sex with another woman.
Despite the findings, Pc Jarvis was allowed to resign from her position as a mounted officer ahead of an independent police disciplinary hearing into the charges that had already been upheld by Cleveland Police’s standards department.
Ms Miller said last night: “It is frightening how much power the police have. My son could have been taken away from me.” Cleveland Police confirmed Pc Jarvis had been allowed to resign ahead of the hearing, due to “exceptional circumstances” – although it could not say what these were.
Legislation was brought in last year to prevent police officers from resigning or retiring while facing gross misconduct proceedings except in certain circumstances, such as ill health or compromising a covert investigation. The report into Pc Jarvis’s conduct upheld three complaints against her made by Ms Miller. These included the allegation that she subjected Ms Miller to “ongoing harassment” on social media after creating several false accounts, and that she acted “in a manner which discredits the police force”.
The report also found that she accessed police systems for reasons other than a police purpose and submitted referrals about the welfare of Ms Miller’s child to the NSPCC which contained malicious information “for the purpose of causing her victim distress”. She also entered an intelligence log into the force computer saying Ms Miller had sex with a 14-year-old boy when she was aged 24 or 25.
Ms Miller said the allegations against her and her husband were completely false.
Pc Jarvis arrived at the stables in 2013. Ms Miller said: “Although she told me she was a police officer and was obviously in a position of responsibility I had a strange feeling about her from the outset.”
The campaign of harassment began shortly after. “There is no clear incident that started this off,” said Ms Miller. “My friends suggested it was jealousy and she did try to cause problems in my marriage by saying my partner had been having an affair and had got someone else pregnant.
“But she’s married herself to a police officer, I don’t know why she would feel jealous, unless it was because my partner’s family owned the stables.”
Ms Miller added: “Once she had brought my son into it I knew I had to do something. I could have had him taken away.” Police visited the stables but found no concerns about the welfare of Ms Miller’s child.
Mrs Jarvis, who was interviewed in April while still a serving officer, denied harassment but admitted sending four referrals to the NSPCC due to “genuine concern”. She also admitted sending messages under fake Facebook and Twitter accounts. She denied misuse of computer equipment.
A friend of Ms Miller said yesterday: “It was a long campaign of sheer vindictiveness. It’s frustrating she was allowed to resign before her disciplinary hearing – she should have been held fully accountable for what she did.”
‘Once she had brought my son into it I knew I had to do something. I could have had him taken away’