Hertfordshire Police officer James Ford sentenced to 18 years for raping child

A "cowardly and disgusting" policeman who committed a string of child sex offences while a serving officer has been jailed for nearly 20 years.

Police described James Ford, 31, as "predatory" after he was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual abuse against the same girl, including four counts of rape, and four of sexual assault.

The former response officer with Hertforshire Police also wiped his phone to hide evidence.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Simon Bryan, described it as a “horrific catalogue of serious sexual offending against a young child”.

Addressing the defendant, the judge said: “As a serving police officer you, of all people, should have protected society against sexual abusers, and you acted as a perpetrator of such vile crimes yourself.”

He told Ford he was a “disgrace to your office”, adding that his conduct “overshadows the countless occasions when brave officers behave with honour and propriety, and demand the greatest of respect from the public”.

The offences - against a child under the age of 13 - took place throughout his two-year career with Hertfordshire Police and came to light after the victim revealed what had happened to her father.

Jurors took less than a day to find him guilty at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday, where he was also sentenced on Friday to 18 years and three months.

He must serve at least two-thirds of that behind bars.

He will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also put in place, along with a restraining order to protect the victim.

Ford, formerly of Bishop's Stortford, was also found guilty of intending to pervert the course of justice after restoring his mobile phone to its factory settings in order to wipe its memory and storage.

The girl’s mother said, in a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Isobel Ascherson: “You should be able to trust a police officer.”

She described Ford as a “disgusting excuse of a human being”, adding: “No prison sentence is ever going to be long enough for what happened.”

The woman described her child as a “sweet, innocent, chatty, friendly girl” but said that she is “no longer the happy, sociable girl she was before”.

“No child should have to go through what she has,” she said.

Fiona Robertson, mitigating, said Ford has no previous convictions.

“He has only himself to blame but these convictions mean he’s irrevocably lost his career,” she said, adding that his former career as a police officer and the “nature of the allegations will cause him difficulty in prison”.

Det Con Mark Williamson said: “Ford is a despicable character who showed no remorse for his actions and invented ridiculous stories to defend his position.

“It is a credit to the victim that the jury saw beyond his lies. I hope the sentence today gives a sense of justice to the victim and their family.”

Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Assistant Chief Constable Genna Telfer added: “James Ford has committed the most appalling crime and his sentence today reflects the gravity of them. His behaviour has been cowardly and disgusting and I am glad he will be spending many years in prison where he poses no further risk.”

Ford had denied all the offences, which took place between 1 December 2019 - the same month he joined the force - and 17 October 2021 and involved a girl under the age of 13.

He was suspended from duties in November last year and an investigation was launched by neighbouring force Cambridgeshire Police.

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