Former officer who groomed vulnerable teens is jailed

A former police officer who targeted vulnerable teenage girls over social media for his own sexual gratification has been jailed for 42 months.

Elliot Wright, 29, from Henlow, was working as an officer for Bedfordshire Police in the collaborated Roads Policing Unit when he arranged to meet a vulnerable teenage girl after finishing a shift on 21 March this year. The girl was subject to a deprivation of liberty order for her own safety, so staff at her care home contacted police when they saw her getting into a car. Officers tracked down the vehicle a short time later and arrested Wright.

The victim told officers he had told her to delete his messages before he was stopped. Following his arrest, detectives traced potential further victims on his social media including a 16-year-old girl who he had paid in return for sexual images. Messages showed he had been aware she was vulnerable and often needed money to buy food – and that he had offered her just £3 on one occasion for images.

Wright pleaded guilty to three counts of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, arranging the sexual exploitation of a child, abduction of a child in care, paying for the sexual services of a child and perverting the course of justice. A further charge of misconduct in a public office, which he denied, was ordered to lay on his file.

He was sentenced to a total of three-and-a-half years at St Albans Crown Court today (Wednesday). He was also made subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Wright was immediately suspended after his arrest and has been remanded in custody. He had his vetting removed and was dismissed from the force in July.

T/Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic said: “Wright is undoubtedly a deviant sexual predator who targeted and groomed young girls for his own sexual gratification.

"Police officers are trained to identify vulnerability so they can protect people from harm. Wright used that training, and his position as a police officer, to abuse some of the most vulnerable young girls for his own means.

"The district judge who remanded him on his first appearance after his arrest described his actions as ‘reprehensible’ which is absolutely fitting. There is no excuse for how he acted, and he has let down his colleagues and further harmed trust and confidence in policing. There is categorically no place in this, or any police force, for anyone who behaves in this way, and I welcome his custodial sentence."

If you suspect a police officer, staff member or volunteer of corruption or serious abuse, tell the Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service . You can stay completely anonymous. You can also call 0800 085 0000