Officer pleads guilty to sex offences

Andrew Rowe, who befriended his victim's family during his work with Staffordshire Police's child abuse investigation unit, based in Stafford, admitted five charges under the Sexual Offences Act when he appeared by videolink at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.

Rowe, aged 31, sat with his head bowed at HMP Birmingham after entering guilty pleas. He had sent hundreds of inappropriate messages to his victim, using both Facebook and a mobile phone.

Formerly of Ashwood, Stoke-on-Trent, Rowe resigned from the Staffordshire force in April after being suspended from duty.

He was remanded in custody pending the preparation of pre-sentence reports. Prosecutor Mr John Attwood told Judge Roderick Henderson that the defendant met and befriended the victim's family some years ago during a criminal investigation.

Revealing that the five offences had taken place early this year, Mr Attwood added: "This defendant engaged in what may be described as sexual grooming of this girl in a number of regards."

In a statement issued after the hearing, Staffordshire Police stressed that Rowe, a former detective constable with 12 years' service, had been arrested within hours of the offences coming to light.

The force's Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said: "Andrew Rowe has admitted serious offences under the Sexual Offences Act and is rightly facing a significant prison sentence.

"He ingratiated himself with a family, then betrayed his young victim and her parents, who had placed their trust in him as a police officer and as a supposed friend.

"It is hard to imagine a more shocking abuse of position by an officer."

Mr Beale, who disclosed that Rowe had tried to cover his tracks by deleting phone and computer evidence, added that every support had been given to the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He said: "We are extremely grateful for the support, co-operation and understanding we have had from her and her family in dealing with such a sensitive case.

"We hope that Rowe's admission of guilt will help them come to terms with what he did."

The family of Rowe's victim, who was in court to hear his guilty pleas, issued a statement stressing that they did not hold Staffordshire Police responsible for any of the officer's actions.

The statement read: "We would like to thank Staffordshire Police for all their help and support during this very difficult time.

"As an officer within the child abuse investigation unit, we regarded Andrew Rowe with the highest level of trust possible – a trust which he went on to completely abuse.

"We would now urge anybody who finds themselves in a similar situation to report the matter immediately, as we have received the highest level of help and support possible."