Former Essex Police officer filmed himself sexually assaulting woman asleep on sofa

A former Essex Police officer wept in the dock after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, which he filmed and shared with two friends.

Steven Tissier, 37, from Chelmsford, had touched his victim's legs and bottom while she was asleep on a sofa at his home.

In a message to one of his friends, Tissier said the woman "looked asleep or dead".

The former officer was found guilty after a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The victim thought she would be safe sleeping at his home in Chelmsford after a night out in London, the court heard.

She was said to be "not keen" to get a taxi ride home alone, so she accepted Tissier's offer of a taxi back to his home.

“It did not cross [the woman’s] mind that this would have any sexual or intimate relation,” prosecutor Mr Matthew Sorel-Cameron told the trial.

The woman fell asleep on his sofa but she said woke up when Tissier started stroking her legs and touching her bottom. She was wearing tights at the time.

She pretended to be asleep because she was frightened and hoped he would stop.

Tissier insisted it was consensual and said he was "under the impression" the woman knew she was being filmed.

After Tissier left the room, the victim sat up with her head in her hands and then asked for a taxi home.

A taxi was called but Tissier then groped her breast, the prosecution said.

The victim said it went on for about a minute and ended when her taxi arrived.

Tissier was a serving police officer at the time of the incident, but has since left Essex Police.

The victim told police in March last year about the impact the incidents had on her: "I'm not sleeping well at all.

"It sounds really silly but to comfort myself to fall asleep I would stroke my leg but I can't do that now without reminding myself of it all. I will try to nap and it won't happen any more."

Jane Foster, a prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "A big focus for the prosecution was the evidence recovered from Steven Tissier’s mobile phone which showed him sharing evidence of his assault with two friends.

"It included WhatsApp messages and a photo, sent while the victim was asleep before the attack, and video clips of the assault sent to another friend.

"This also revealed a Snapchat conversation he had with the victim some days before the attack when he suggested ‘a threesome’, a suggestion that the victim rejected, which demonstrated that his sexual interest in her was not reciprocated.

"When he thought the victim was asleep Tissier acted on those feelings despite there being no indication that the victim was consenting to sexual activity with him and no reasonable belief on his part that she was."Tissier will be sentenced at a later date.

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