Police officer caught sending vulnerable 14-year-old girl sexual texts
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A police officer has been sacked for sending sexual texts to a vulnerable 14-year-old girl. Matthew Hunt, from Northamptonshire Police, acted with ‘predatory sexual intent’, against the victim, only named as Child A in a misconduct panel. He referenced sexual activity in messages, described as ‘personal in tone’.
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His predatory behaviour was only uncovered when the girl’s school found out he planned to meet for ‘something to eat’. The panel was told how Hunt tried to move their communication to private channels ‘to reduce the chances of being caught’. He ended up texting the teenager for a week and according to the panel, he ‘would have sought face-to-face contact’.
Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, Ivan Balhatchet, who chaired the panel, said this is a case of an officer being involved in child sexual exploitation. In his conclusion, he stressed that Hunt intended for this to lead to sexual abuse. ‘This is premeditated, planned, targeted, and involves deliberate or predatory steps,’ Balhatchet added.
‘This case reveals both a sexual attraction to children but also the arrogance of a police officer thinking he could get away with it.’. Balhatchet said the child was vulnerable ‘both because of her age and other factors’. He also said Hunt chose to ‘disengage from the process’ because he did not attend the proceedings.
