Hertfordshire Police officer says he cried over child rape allegations

James Ford, of Hertfordshire Police, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court

A police officer accused of raping a child said he cried when he was told allegations had been made against him.

James Ford, 31, a response officer for Hertfordshire Police, is on trial charged with 10 counts of sex offences against the same girl, who is under the age of 13.

Cambridge Crown Court heard the alleged offences spanned from late 2019 to late 2021.

Mr Ford, of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, has denied the charges.

They include four counts of rape, four of sexual assault and two of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutors also allege Mr Ford did an act tending and intended to pervert the course of justice when he "deliberately wiped his phone by factory resetting his Samsung mobile phone".

In an interview with police, Mr Ford said he was an intervention officer.

When asked his reaction to the allegations, he said: "I got upset, I cried."

He said he did not know why the child would make the allegations.

When asked about his phone, Mr Ford said he dropped it when he was talking on it and it turned off.

He added that he plugged it in to charge "for a couple of minutes, then I could turn it back on and the home screen was different", and that it then "came up with all the initial set-up stuff".

Prosecutor Isobel Ascherson, reading from an agreed facts document, said Mr Ford had no previous convictions.

The trial continues.