Met Police officer Francois Olwage jailed for child sex offences

The prosecution said Francois Olwage's messages "made it clear he believed he was in contact with a child"

A Metropolitan Police officer found guilty of child sex offences has been jailed for five and a half years.

Det Con Francois Olwage, 52, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, arranged to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex while on duty in October.

He spoke to the girl for two weeks on a chat forum, but she was in fact an undercover police officer.

A judge said he had shown "disregard for the public trust and confidence that is held in your office".

Olwage, who has been suspended from duty and faces a police misconduct hearing, had been convicted of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause/incite a girl aged 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The counter-terrorism officer was also found guilty of attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following grooming and of abusing his position as a police officer.

During his trial, Winchester Crown Court heard Olwage was having explicit sexual conversations with the "girl", who had the username Smile Bear, before suggesting they meet in what the undercover officer had said was her hometown of Basingstoke, Hampshire. He was arrested on the way after stopping at a McDonalds.

Olwage told the court that he "never believed" Smile Bear was a 13-year-old girl and that he thought it was an adult "playing out a fantasy".

'Broken public trust'

During sentencing, Judge Jane Miller QC said: "You were a highly regarded police officer with considerable experience.

"You were expected to uphold the law but by trying to take advantage of a vulnerable child, albeit fictional, you showed a disregard for the public trust and confidence that is held in your office."

Defence barrister, Adrienne Knight, said that Olwage, who had served with the Met for nine years and with Hertfordshire Constabulary for seven years, had submitted a letter expressing his "sorrow for what he had done".

"There can be no doubt he was trying to find a relationship, trying to find love," she said.

"He wasn't looking for a 13-year-old but stumbled across it because of the way the police have encroached on these websites.

"This isn't entrapment, but this was very close indeed."

Senior crown prosecutor Marc Thompson said that while the officer had "denied any sexual interest in children" his messages "made it clear he believed he was in contact with a child".

"On the day he planned to meet with his victim, he abandoned his police duties to pursue sexual gratification from someone he believed to be a child," Mr Thompson said.

"No actual children were in danger, but it has given us a glimpse into what this man is capable of doing when he thinks he can rely on the anonymity of the internet.

"This is made all the more serious because he has broken the trust of the public he has sworn to protect."

At the start of the trial Olwage admitted an offence of improperly exercising his police powers and privileges in order to receive the "benefit of sexual gratification".