Paedophile officer's Facebook 'likes' had been flagged before he started abusing girl

A paedophile police officer who went on to rape a girl was cleared by the force's online vetting process just weeks before the abuse began - despite his Facebook activity sparking concerns.

James Ford was jailed last week after admitting a string of offences including rape against a single victim over the course of nearly two years.

The former response officer worked for Hertfordshire Police between December 2019 and November 2021.

The force has now admitted a vetting process used to screen candidates applying for a job had flagged up that he had "liked" a number of posts on Facebook which were deemed inappropriate.

But when the 31-year-old was challenged, he "confirmed the likes were from his youth when he had a much darker sense of humour and did not reflect his adult lifestyle", said the force.

A spokesman added: "As there were no other matters for concern, it would be disproportionate to refuse vetting at that time."

Hertfordshire Police said the vetting process regularly found people with social media accounts from when they were teenagers that needed editing and said "James Ford's explanation was reasonable and credible".

Ford was issued a police vetting clearance on 7 November 2019.

His offending began just 24 days later, on 1 December 2019.

Last week he pleaded guilty to 11 offences in total, including rape against a child under 13, sexual assault, and perverting the course of justice, and was later jailed for more than 18 years.

A full review into the process that saw Ford become a police constable will now take place "to identify any learning opportunities moving forward and how we can better improve our existing practices", said the force.

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