A “predatory” police constable and a former officer are set to be jailed after having intercourse with susceptible girls on responsibility.
West Midlands PC Anthony Ritchie and his ex-colleague Steven Walters had sexual relationships with a complete of three girls, a few of whom they met whereas responding to home abuse incidents.
Ritchie, 46, had intercourse with one lady after arresting her accomplice and started a sexual relationship with one other after making an attempt to arrest her son.
Walters, 55, initiated oral intercourse with two girls whereas responding to home abuse incidents in 2013, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) mentioned.
One of the ladies went on to have a sexual relationship with Ritchie months later.
The IOPC mentioned Ritchie first started a sexual relationship with the lady after she reported a home violence incident in June 2014.
The pair have been discovered to have contacted one another on Ritchie’s private cellphone and had intercourse after he arrested the lady’s accomplice.
The lady then informed him she was pressured into oral intercourse by Walters in October 2013 when he responded to a home abuse name.
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The IOPC mentioned the lady anticipated PC Ritchie to behave on her allegations however this didn’t occur.
When completely different officers attended the identical lady’s house for an unrelated incident in 2018, she made disclosures to them, sparking the IOPC investigation.
In May 2021, a second lady mentioned she had been in a sexual relationship with Ritchie in 2014.
Ritchie requested the lady on a date after going to her house to arrest her son, had intercourse along with her on responsibility and persuaded her to deceive senior officers about how they met after the lady’s son complained.
Then, in November 2021, a 3rd lady complained that Walters initiated oral intercourse whereas attending a home abuse incident at her accomplice’s house in 2013.
The males have been every discovered responsible of two counts of misconduct in a public workplace at Birmingham Crown Court.
The trial, which lasted 12 days, was informed Walters was jailed for sexually assaulting two completely different girls in 2015 and dismissed by West Midlands Police in 2016.
The pair have been informed by Judge Roderick Henderson that they need to count on to be jailed when they’re sentenced on 21 September.
Derrick Campbell, IOPC regional director, mentioned: “Abuse of power for sexual gain is a breach of the public’s trust, which seriously undermines confidence in the police service and discredits the profession.
“The actions of PC Ritchie and ex-PC Walters have been fairly rightly described as predatory in the course of the trial and an aggravating characteristic is that they constantly focused girls who have been in susceptible conditions and trying to the police for assist.
“Both officers have behaved disgracefully and in PC Ritchie’s case our investigations established that while he was having a relationship with two women at the same time after meeting them through work, he was also going through a disciplinary procedure for inappropriate text messages sent to another woman he met while on duty.”
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, mentioned: “This was predatory behaviour from two police officers who abused their position of trust while on duty serving the public.
“Both Walters and Ritchie took benefit of susceptible girls after visiting them for police functions.
“I want to commend the bravery of the women in this case for coming forward and providing the evidence to enable us to secure these convictions.”
West Midlands Police has been approached for remark.
Source: information.sky.com”