A disgraced former Derbyshire police officer sent sexually explicit messages to a vulnerable woman he met while on duty, a misconduct hearing has heard.
The actions of ex-PC Benjamin Pearson would have led to dismissal had he not resigned from his position at the force just weeks prior to the hearing, an independent panel ruled.
PC Pearson, who resigned in September, formed an inappropriate relationship with a woman he came into contact with through his duties. His policing career now lies in jeopardy.
He organised a meeting with the woman after texting her asking for a date, sent her sexual messages and without a policing purpose accessed information about her and other members of her family on police systems.
Some of PC Pearson’s messages were of a sexual nature and more than 200 were sent by him while he was at work.
Pearson, who was formerly based at Buxton Police Station, was found to have breached police professional behaviour standards. The actions were found to have amounted to gross misconduct. He will be placed on the barred list preventing future employment with the police service.
The full misconduct report shows that PC Pearson’s interest with the vulnerable woman started in September 2022 when he was at Chapel en le Frith responding to an incident involving an abandoned vehicle. During the incident the officer dealt with the male keeper of the vehicle, who was in company with a woman.
At the conclusion of the incident PC Pearson exchanged details with the female and gave her his personal mobile phone number – an inappropriate action as he met her while on police duty.
Around an hour after the incident it was found the officer had sent the woman a text saying: “Would love to take u (sic) out maybe, my marriage ended a month ago, she cheated x”. The woman sent him messages describing issues in her relationship including information that she was taking anti-depressant medication and that she was under investigation for an offence.
PC Pearson then met the woman a couple of hours later while he was on duty after asking her on text for “a cuddle”. Between September and December 2022 he proceeded to exchange messages of a sexual nature with the woman.
The report then includes information that the officer carried out searches and reviewed information about the woman using confidential police data systems. Several search attempts were made using different systems including searches for the woman’s home address.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) director of operations Steve Noonan said: “PC Pearson abused his authority and position of trust by pursuing an improper emotional relationship with a member of the public he met on duty.
“Aggravating features of this case are that it was not a one-off incident and he carried on sending sexualised messages over several months after the woman indicated she was emotionally vulnerable. It was also clear from his messages that he knew what he was doing was wrong and could get him in trouble. He has now been held accountable for his behaviour.”
Derbyshire Police has been approached for comment.
