A former Wiltshire police officer who pursued a relationship with a sexual assault victim would have been dismissed without notice had he not resigned, a misconduct hearing has revealed.
Then PC Christopher Grant pursued an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable Swindon woman after she reported a sex attack, with the alleged perpetrator being her partner.
He started a sexual and improper emotional relationship with the woman who suffers from borderline personality disorder – which would be regarded as an abuse of position for a sexual purpose.
In the two months that followed Grant’s initial contact with the victim, he sent more than 2,100 text messages to her.
Chair of the accelerated gross misconduct panel, Chief Constable Catherine Roper, today (Thursday) upheld the allegation and concluded that had Grant not resigned from the force, he would have been dismissed without notice.
He will now be entered onto the national barred list which will identify he has been dismissed from Wiltshire Police and will prevent him from working within any police force in England and Wales, therefore providing important protection to the public.
Chief Constable Roper said: “Firstly, I wanted to apologise, on behalf of the organisation, to the victim in this case. She came to us to report a serious offence and the officer entrusted to support her, abused his position for his own sexual gratification.
“I want to be clear – the actions of Christopher Grant go against everything we stand for as a police service. There is no room in Wiltshire Police for any officer, member of staff or volunteer who betray the trust our communities place in us at their time of need.
“I want to be unequivocal in my position on this as the new Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police – I will not tolerate any behaviour which falls below the standard I, and our communities, expect.
“Further, I would encourage any member of the community who may have concerns about the conduct or professionalism of any of my officers or staff to contact the Force Professional Standards Department, Crime Stoppers or the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”
Wiltshire Police referred the investigation to the IOPC who investigated it independently from Wiltshire Police.
