Police officer sacked for sending sexual messages to 14-year-old girl

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A serving police officer has been sacked after he met a “vulnerable” 14-year-old girl through his duties and sent her sexual messages.

Nottinghamshire Police constable Matthew Hunt would have “sought face-to-face contact” with the girl, known as Child A, a misconduct panel found on Friday before dismissing him without notice.

The conversations took place over a week and emerged when the child’s school uncovered Hunt’s plan to meet her for “something to eat”, the panel said.

Chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, Ivan Balhatchet, chaired the panel and said in the written decision: “This is a case of a police officer involved in child sexual exploitation, intended, I find, to lead to sexual abuse.

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“He acted on a deeply concerning attraction to Child A with an utter lack of self-control and respect for her and her family.

“In doing so, he acted deliberately and with a lack of integrity, seeking from the beginning to move communication to private channels. He did so, I find, to reduce the chances of being caught.

“This is premeditated, planned, targeted, and involves deliberate or predatory steps.

“This case reveals both a sexual attraction to children but also the arrogance of a police officer thinking he could get away with it.”

He added that the child was vulnerable “both because of her age and other factors”.

“As the chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, I am appalled. This officer is a disgrace to the force and the wider police service,” he added.

He did not attend the remote proceedings and Mr Balhatchet said Hunt had “chosen to disengage from the process”, with no character evidence or other personal mitigation submitted to the panel.

The officer had previously admitted his actions, that they amounted to gross misconduct by discreditable conduct, and had offered his resignation.

He was still a serving officer at the time of Friday’s hearing and was subject to an interim protective Sexual Risk Order, the panel said.

Hunt was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of discreditable conduct, authority respect and courtesy, and honesty and integrity.

Mr Balhatchet said: “The priority of the police service is to protect the most vulnerable in society.

“This officer has done the exact opposite and done so deliberately for his own perverted reasons.”

Apologising to the family and finding Hunt to have committed gross misconduct, he wrote: “I am appalled.

“This officer is a disgrace to the force and the wider police service. I will continue to take the strongest possible action to root out people like this officer, who should be nowhere near the police service.

“The public, and honourable decent police officers who work hard through their whole careers to serve the public, deserve no less.

“I would like to say that I am so sorry to the victim, her family and the public of Northamptonshire. The officer’s conduct is entirely incompatible with continuing to serve as a police officer. I have no hesitation in dismissing him without notice.”