Volunteer police officer raped child, court told

Gwyn Samuels (right) now identifies as a woman but was known as James Bubb at the time of the alleged offences

A Metropolitan Police volunteer officer groomed a child and raped her after meeting her online, a court heard.

Prosecutors said the defendant, who was born a man named James Bubb but now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, asked one alleged victim to perform a sex act in public when she was 12 years old.

The 27-year-old is also accused of raping another woman and using police training techniques while performing sex acts.

The defendant, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denies all charges.

Prosecutor Richard Milne told Amersham Law Courts the defendant and the alleged victims would be referred to by their biological sex throughout the trial when discussing the allegations.

He said the first alleged victim said in a statement to police that she did not realise at the time that she was "being groomed",

She alleged that at the age of 13, 14 or 15, the pair met up, and the defendant took her virginity, also choking her so she could not speak.

The court heard that the defendant met the first alleged victim, then 12, in person at a Christian festival while working there as a steward, and told her they were in a relationship, despite her wearing a "bracelet pass" for a child.

In his opening to the jury, Mr Milne said the first alleged victim met the defendant on a website.

The court heard their communications became sexual around a month after first meeting online, with the alleged victim describing their relationship as a "trauma bond".

After taking the first alleged victim's virginity, the defendant had sex with her on a number of occasions, the court heard.

Mr Milne said: "He would tell [the first alleged victim] that they enjoyed being raped, to which [they] replied no.

"The Crown says this defendant befriended and sexually assaulted [the first complainant] just before her 13th birthday."

He added that the defendant had sexual encounters with her when she was 13 to 15 years old, and then, after a gap, the prosecution says he raped her when she was 18.

The defendant has denied one count of rape in relation to one complainant and two counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration in relation to the other complainant.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place between 1 January 2018 and 2 April 2024.

The trial continues.