Met Safer Schools officer pleads guilty to child sex offences

A serving Met Police serviceman who was posted successful a schoolhouse successful northbound London has pleaded blameworthy to kid enactment offences.

PC Hussain Chehab, 22, admitted 4 counts of intersexual enactment with a miss aged 13-15, 3 counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and intersexual connection with a child.

He appeared astatine Wood Green Crown Court connected Tuesday and volition beryllium sentenced connected 17 March.

The Met said nary grounds had linked immoderate of Chehab's offending to his role.

Speaking to the Greater London Authority's Police and Crime Committee connected Wednesday morning, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the lawsuit arsenic "ghastly".

He apologised to the victims and their families, saying: "They shouldn't beryllium facing that astatine the hands of a constabulary officer."

The Met said the PC joined the unit successful March 2020 and was attached to the North Area Command Unit, serving arsenic a Safer Schools serviceman successful a secondary schoolhouse successful Enfield betwixt May and August 2021.

The household of a 16-year-old miss raised concerns with constabulary successful July 2021, reporting she had precocious been successful a narration with Chehab which they believed began erstwhile she was 15.

Chehab was arrested successful August 2021 and helium was placed connected restricted duties, including having to enactment wrong the confines of a constabulary gathering successful a non public-facing role, and having nary interaction with schools oregon children.

A spokesperson for the Met said investigators recovered a fig of indecent images erstwhile they seized his integer devices, and helium was arrested for further offences and suspended from work successful October 2021.

When constabulary analysed his devices, they besides recovered messages betwixt Chehab and a 14-year-old miss engaging successful intersexual communication.

The teen aboriginal provided grounds to constabulary that they had entered into a intersexual narration successful 2019, erstwhile she was 14.

Det Ch Supt Caroline Haines, policing pb for Enfield, said Chehab's offences were "sickening" and helium "exploited" the young girls "for his ain intersexual gratification".

"Once the archetypal allegations against PC Chehab were made, helium was instantly removed from his relation portion the probe took place," she said.

Det Ch Supt Haines added the Met had worked intimately with the schoolhouse and section authorization to guarantee determination were nary further unreported safeguarding incidents oregon missed opportunities.

She said the accusation provided to the Met earlier Chehab joined the unit was reviewed and helium besides went done further kid and susceptible radical supervision vetting earlier opening his relation arsenic a Safer Schools officer, but "nothing was recovered that could person indicated his offending".

"This quality volition of people origin sizeable harm and interest not lone to the section community, but Londoners arsenic a whole, who spot their spot successful constabulary officers to spell into our schools alongside their children each time and support them safe," she continued.

"While nary grounds has been recovered linking immoderate of Chehab's offending to his role, we are engaging with our section schools assemblage forums and autarkic advisory groups to reassure them pursuing the harm his actions volition person caused."

During the tribunal hearing, nary verdict was recorded successful an further 4 counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and the justice ordered they beryllium near to prevarication connected file.

The Met said an accelerated misconduct process had been initiated for Chehab and would beryllium held arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.