Child sex chat police officer would have been sacked

A former police officer who was caught in a sting as he tried to talk to a girl about sex would have been sacked had he not quit.

Daniel Hunt worked for Thames Valley Police (TVP) in Maidenhead, Berkshire, when the offence took place in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, on 14 December 2023.

He believed he was talking to a 12-year-old girl called Summer when he had the conversation and sent an intimate photo. He quit TVP in November 2024.

Hunt, of Southampton, admitted trying to engage in sexual communication with a child and was given an eight-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, at Oxford Crown Court in February.

TVP's chief constable Jason Hogg said Hunt's behaviour was "highly discreditable" and "leads to a significant loss of public trust and confidence and brings discredit to policing as a whole."

Hunt will also be subject of a sexual harm prevention order for seven years.

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