A Gwent police officer has been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl under the age of 13
A Gwent police officer has been found guilty of five counts relating to the sexual abuse of a child.
John Stringer, who’s 42 and from Cardiff, had denied the accusations.
But today, after just over a day of deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges.
They unanimously found Stringer guilty of two counts of sexual assault by touching and one charge of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He was also found guilty of a further charge of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one charge of causing a child to watch a sexual act, by majorities of 11 to 1 and 10 to 2 respectively.
Judge Daniel Williams thanked the jury of 9 men and 3 women and remanded Stringer in custody until sentencing on October 28th.
The police constable is currently suspended from his duties with the Gwent force.
The week-long trial at Cardiff Crown Court had centred on the evidence of a young female victim, who was aged under 13 at the time of the offences.
The victim - who can’t be named for legal reasons - told police that Mr Stringer had put a blanket over her while she was playing video games before touching her inappropriately.
She also told officers how, on another occasion, the defendant had shown her a video of an adult woman performing a sex act, before telling her to act out what she’d seen.
She went on to describe how Stringer had asked her what she’d learned in SRE (Sex and Relationships Education) classes, and that it would be “her fault” if her parents found out about what had happened and he got into trouble.
His behaviour made her feel “very uncomfortable”, she told officers.
The court was told that the allegations related to the period of time between December 2019 and July 2021.
The trial was shown a video of the girl being cross-examined. In the video she said she was “sure” the touching had happened.
The jury also heard that a number of internet searches for adult material were found on John Stringer’s phone, including several relating to a particular sex act and featuring the words ‘young’ and ‘voyeur.’
Giving evidence, Mr Stringer said he’d been “absolutely devastated” to be arrested, after the girl told a Teaching Assistant at her school about the allegations.
Assistant Chief Constable Vicki Townsend said, "As soon as we became aware of the allegations made against John Stringer, we took the immediate decision to suspend him from duty and he remains so to this day.
“These offences, which were committed against a child, are sickening. These are some of the most heinous crimes that we as a police service are dedicated in investigating, his offending is a betrayal of his role as an officer.
"We'd like to commend the bravery of the victim in this case, speaking out about such horrific abuse is hard and we understand the further impact of going through the court process will have.
“We’re now able to rapidly progress appropriate misconduct proceedings against this individual following the conclusion of the trial.”
The Police Officer, said to be of previous good character, admitted the alleged victim was a regular visitor to his home over the period in question, but said he’d never been with her alone.
He admitted making 100s of internet searches for pornography but denied having an interest in young girls.
Stringer appeared tearful in the dock the judge said he would be sent to prison when he is sentenced next month.
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