SOUTH WALES POLICE OFFICER RESIGNS AFTER GUILTY MESSAGES TO 'BOY, 14'
A police officer from South Wales named PC Anthony French, aged 47, has been reported for sending inappropriate messages via the gay dating app Grindr to an undercover officer he believed was a 14-year-old boy.The hearing revealed that French sent the officer several messages during a three-hour period before being arrested the next day.
The messages included comments like "Let's see this skinny bod," and inquiries about the boy's physical appearance, following messages where the undercover officer claimed to be 14 and showed a picture.
French initially claimed that his phone had been reset in February and insisted he had not used Grindr since then, denying sending any messages.
It was found through specialist police confirmation that he was indeed using his iPhone to send messages via Grindr while allegedly accessing gay pornography.
French resigned from the police force prior to the misconduct hearing, and it was established that his behavior amounted to gross misconduct, breaching professional standards, and was discreditable conduct.
He was subsequently banned from future policing and the evidence was handed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided not to pursue criminal charges as it did not meet the criminal threshold.
The Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan stated that while the CPS did not consider the actions to be criminal, they significantly exceeded the police standards for behavior.
The head of professional standards, Superintendent Mark Lenihan, emphasized that French should have known that such messages were illegal.
During police interviews, French lied in an attempt to mislead officers and avoid prosecution.
