Police paedophiles: More than 30 guilty since January 2022

Those jailed include, from left to right: Luke Horner, Matthew Shaw, Hussain Chehab and James Ford

More than 30 police and support officers have been convicted of child sex abuse offences in England and Wales since January 2022, BBC research has revealed.

Two worked with children and another was a trainee detective constable in a child abuse safeguarding unit.

The cases include grooming, blackmail, sexual assault and rape.

The National Police Chiefs' Council says forces are improving staff vetting and are committed to rebuilding trust.

BBC News obtained the information by going through police press releases and media reports on police officers, special constables and community support officers in England and Wales who had been convicted of child sexual abuse in 2022 and 2023.

In total, 31 officers have been convicted. The latest is former South Wales Police officer Lewis Edwards, who abused hundreds of children online.

The other cases include:

• Hertfordshire police officer James Ford, who was jailed for 18 years and three months for raping a child under the age of 13 many times

• Hussain Chehab, of the Metropolitan Police, who was sentenced to five years for child sexual abuse. He worked as a safer schools officer, in north London

• Luke Horner, of Thames Valley Police, who was sentenced to six years for grooming his victim before travelling over an hour from his home to sexually assault them and record the incident on the child's own phone

'Who can you trust?'

In March, Derbyshire Constabulary community police officer Matthew Shaw was jailed for 14 years for secretly filming children in local swimming pool changing rooms and coercing children online to send him indecent images of themselves.

In court, at his sentencing, one of his victims asked: "If you can't trust a PCSO (police community support officer) who can you trust?"

Rhiannon-Faye McDonald, of Marie Collins Foundation, herself a child abuse survivor, says those abused by the police would find it very difficult to work with officers investigating the crime.

"Although my abuser wasn't someone in a position of authority it impacted my ability to trust people, men in particular.

"These children are likely to have a strong mistrust of the officers involved in investigating their case and in some instances that mistrust of the police will last a lifetime," Ms McDonald told BBC News.

Debbie Tedds, chief constable of Warwickshire Police and National Police Chiefs' Council lead on vetting staff, says more work is needed, despite improvements to police recruitment.

"The vetting standard needs to be strengthened. The decision-making needs to be more consistent, and needs to be more robust across the country.

"We need to make sure that these individuals don't enter the service and then do not remain in the service if things are identified whilst they're serving."

Of the 31 convictions since January 2022:

• 18 officers were jailed

• 10 received suspended sentences

• three received non-custodial sentences

That 13 convicted officers did not go to jail, highlights the need for reform, particularly on sentences for possessing child pornography, according to Ms McDonald.

"Many of these images will circulate for years," she says. "People think harm is done when that image is created but harm is done every time that image is viewed.

"The message is this isn't a serious crime - and myself as a survivor and others I work with feel disheartened and upset."

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