A former police officer who worked with sexual or violent criminals was imprisoned when she developed a connection with a guy she was overseeing.
Rachel Beale, a Wiltshire Police officer, had an affair with a convicted rapist she was entrusted with managing, according to Wiltshire Live.
Beale acknowledged to having an affair with Marc Few, who was released from prison in February 2020.
Instead of controlling him, she invited him to her house to drink and consume cannabis, according to evidence presented at Bristol Crown Court.
Her partner once discovered her in her nightgown, laying on top of a nude Few.
Police discovered that Beale had used her personal phone to send explicit texts to Few.
One message, sent on August 8, 2020, stated, “I want you in me when you come home!X” She described the communications as “banter” when asked about them.
Defending attorney Martha Smith-Higgins stated: “She recognises the ramifications of her acts. She gave Wiltshire Police her resignation notice, which was accepted.”
Beale was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to public office misconduct. Beale, 53, of Oxfordshire, appeared today at Bristol Crown Court.
Beale was told by the judge: “Someone in a position of trust in the capacity that you held is someone who has a great deal of responsibility. Those who misuse that trust and duty must understand that a jail term is unavoidable if they conduct in the manner you did.”
Beale, 53, was working as an offender manager in Wiltshire Police’s Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) Unit when she developed an improper, personal contact with a male member of the public over whom she was in charge, according to police.
The fee is valid between February and September 2020.
When the problem was brought to the attention of the police in September 2020, she was arrested and promptly suspended from duty.
The matter was forwarded to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which conducted an independent investigation into the claims.
Following her guilty plea last month, an internal gross misconduct inquiry was place last week, and it was determined that she would have been fired from Wiltshire Police if she had not resigned beforehand.
She has also been added to the College of Policing’s prohibited register, which means she will be unable to work for another police force or in an externally verified risk post.
“It goes without saying that we demand the greatest levels of behaviour from all our officers, employees, and volunteers, something that is even more crucial when an employee is directly involved in supervising offenders within our community,” stated Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills.
DCC Mills added: “I want our communities across Swindon and Wiltshire to have the utmost confidence in their police force, and, although cases like this highlight the disappointing and unacceptable minority, I hope the public can see that we are committed to rooting out any kind of misconduct and taking the appropriate action.
“If any member of the public has concerns relating to the professionalism of any officer or staff member, we would urge them to contact us in confidence so we can address the concerns raised.”
