Serving Thames Valley Police officer jailed for sexual assault on 13-year-old girl

Undated handout photo issued by Northamptonshire Police of Former PC Luke Christopher Horner, 24, of Thames Valley Police who has admitted to penetrative sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl. In a hearing at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, Luke, who was based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual activity with a child. Issue date: Thursday August 3, 2023.
Luke Horner has been jailed for six years and four months. Credit: Northamptonshire Police

A serving police officer who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for more than six years.

PC Luke Horner, a former officer with Thames Valley Police, drove more than an hour from his home to meet the girl in Northamptonshire on 11 June before seriously sexually assaulting her.

The 24-year-old of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire recorded some of the activity on the girl's mobile phone, Northampton Crown Court heard.

He was jailed for six years and four months on Friday, having previously pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child aged 13-15.

Horner had been arrested shortly after committing the offence in Rushden, following an investigation by Northamptonshire Police. He was immediately suspended from duty by Thames Valley Police.

During sentencing, the court heard from a relative of the young girl who said in her victim personal statement: “How can I sleep at night knowing what he did? How can he? How did he go into work, put on his uniform and face his colleagues knowing he had broken the law?

"I feel sick to my stomach every time I think about it.”

Det Sgt Sarah Osborne of Northamptonshire Police said: “No sentence can make up for what Luke Horner has done but I hope the conclusion of this case, and the fact that he is now going to spend time in prison, provides some small comfort to the family of this young girl.

“I want to commend them for the trust they put in us to investigate this crime and for their support throughout – neither of which we have ever taken for granted."

She added: “His behaviour and his actions go against everything we stand for within policing and it is people like him that we continue to work relentlessly to expose and to remove for good. 

"I hope this case demonstrates just how seriously we take the protection of children in this county and that it doesn’t matter who you are if you commit an offence, we will do everything we can to put you where you where you belong – behind bars.”

Det Ch Insp Jen Castle, the force's head of child safeguarding, said: “Police officers and staff who think they can break the law have no place in our profession. Upholding the law and maintaining professionalism are our top priorities.”

Horner resigned from Thames Valley Police on 26 July, 2023.

Thames Valley Police referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which decided that it should be subject to a local investigation by the force.

A misconduct meeting took place on 4 September 2023, where it was found that Horner’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Former PC Horner would have been dismissed if he were still serving and he is to be placed on the barred list, meaning he is prevented from ever serving as a police officer again.

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