Gwent Police officer John Stringer denies abusing girl

John Stringer denies five counts of sexual offences against a child under 13

A police officer accused of sexually abusing a girl told a court he had an "an immaculate record" in law enforcement.

Gwent officer John Stringer, 41, from Cardiff, denies five counts of sexually abusing of a girl under 13.

He denied indecently touching her, showing her porn or asking her to mimic what she saw in adult films.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Mr Stringer's iPhone's search history showed 18% of what he was looking for was porn.

The jury was told that of 21,670 records found on his phone, 4,000 were for adult content, but prosecutor Ian Wright told the court that were no indecent images of children.

Ieuan Bennett, defending, asked Mr Stringer whether the child he is alleged to have assaulted could access adult material in his home.

"Absolutely not," said Mr Stringer, who told the court he had been a police officer for almost 14 years.

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Mr Stringer, who has been suspended by Gwent Police, told the court the child did not have access in his home to anything she should not have and he had "absolutely" told police the truth.

Quizzed about his porn habits, he conceded he watched porn "fairly" regularly.

The court was told he searched for information about the effects of masturbation on stress, anxiety, focus, concentration, mood, sleep and hormones.

A total of 4,000 porn searches were found on the policeman's phone

Mr Wright asked if it was "coincidence" that the girl said in her police interview he had told her "masturbation would help her calm down and help with her sleep" - he told the court it was.

Mr Stringer denied ever telling the girl he was lonely or wanted a girlfriend and said he could think of no reason she would make that up.

The charges against him, said to have happened between December 2019 and July 2021, include two of sexual assault by touching, two of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and one of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

The trial continues.