A police officer has been sacked after sexually assaulting a young girl and telling her to mimic a sex act in a pornographic video he had shown her. Gwent Police PC John Stringer was barred from police work in a misconduct hearing after a Cardiff Crown Court jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault by touching, two of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one of causing a child to watch a sexual act.
The 41-year-old, John Stringer from Cardiff, did not attend the misconduct hearing in Cwmbran, where he was dismissed without notice. During the trial, his victim said John Stringer sexually abused her and touched her inappropriately under a blanket and under her clothing. Prosecutor Ian Wright said: “It’s the prosecution’s case the defendant had an unhealthy fixation with [the victim]. He told her he was lonely and wanted a girlfriend.”
The court heard John Stringer spent a “great deal of his time watching pornography”. There were more than 4,000 searches on his phone related to pornography, with categories visited including “voyeur masturbation”. John Stringer had previously told the court he accessed information pages on his mobile phone about the effects of masturbation on stress, anxiety, focus, concentration, mood, sleep, and hormones.
Gwent Police’s temporary chief constable, Mark Hobrough, condemned the gross misconduct of John Stringer and another disgraced officer, Huw Orphan, who has been barred from police work for kicking his wife down a flight of stairs. “I am appalled and disgusted at the horrific crimes that have been committed by these two officers and my thoughts go out to the victims in these cases,” he said.
“Officers take an oath to serve and protect their communities, and these two have betrayed both the public and all of their colleagues at Gwent Police through their vile actions. Domestic abuse and child sexual offences are among the most serious that police officers investigate. I know this will impact the trust of victims to report these extremely serious offences to us and I would like you to know that we are committed to bringing offenders to justice and safeguarding victims. There is no place in Gwent Police or our communities for perpetrators of abuse.”
John Stringer was remanded in custody by Judge Daniel Williams after the Cardiff Crown Court jury returned guilty verdicts. John Stringer is due to be sentenced on October 28.
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