Met Police 'safer schools officer' guilty of 'sickening' child sex offences
A Met Police Safer Schools Officer has pleaded guilty to a string of child sex offences.
Pc Hussain Chehab pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15 before he became a police officer, but also offences linked to indecent images of children that he committed while in the force.
The offences took place between March and September 2019, before Chehab joined the Metropolitan Police the following year, where he was attached to a school in north London.
They only came to light when the girl's family reported in July 2021 that their daughter had been in a sexual relationship with Chehab, which it later emerged began when she was 14.
Chehab, 22, also admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one of engaging in sexual communication with a child, when the case was heard at Wood Green Crown Court.
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The Met said some of these offences were committed while he was posted at a north London school between May and August 2021.
No concerns were raised about Chehab either in the recruitment process or later when he was vetted to work in a school.
Additional Child and Vulnerable Group Supervision checks were completed prior to starting his role as a Safer Schools Officer but also missed the serial sex offender.
He was arrested August 24, 2021 and a number of digital devices were seized, while the officer was placed on desk duty with a non-public-facing role.
He also had no contact with schools or children.
Evidence on his devices revealed he had been having sexual conversations with a child who later told police she began a sexual relationship with Chehab when she was just 14, around a year before he joined the Met.
A number of indecent images were found on his devices and he was arrested again on October 28 and suspended from duty.
No verdict was recorded this week in a further four counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and they are now left to lie on file.
He was released on bail until he is sentenced at the same court on Friday,March 17.
Following his guilty pleas and accelerated misconduct process has been initiated.
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Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines said: “Our thoughts foremost today are with the young girls who Chehab exploited and took advantage of for his own sexual gratification.
“These offences are made all the more sickening by the fact that some of the image offences were committed while PC Chehab was in a role as a Safer Schools officer attached to a secondary school in Enfield between May 2021 and his arrest in August 2021.
“Once the initial allegations against PC Chehab were made, he was immediately removed from his role while the investigation took place.
"We have worked closely with the school concerned, and Enfield local authority, to ensure that there were no further unreported safeguarding incidents or missed opportunities.
“A review of the information provided to the Met prior to him joining as a police officer was carried out and nothing was found that could have indicated his offending.
“Prior to commencing his role as a Safer Schools Officer he was also subject to further Child and Vulnerable Group Supervision vetting, in line with the current vetting standards for all those who work with children and young persons.
“This news will of course cause considerable damage and concern, not only to the local community, but Londoners as a whole, who place their trust in police officers to go into our schools alongside their children every day and keep them safe.
“While no evidence has been found linking any of Chehab’s offending to his role, we are engaging with our local schools, community forums and independent advisory groups to reassure them following the damage his actions will have caused.
“The Met continues to ruthlessly target those who corrupt our identity.
"We have made it clear there is no place for the likes of PC Chehab in the Met and will take quick and immediate action to arrest and prosecute anyone who commits such abhorrent criminal acts, and will work to quickly remove them from the organisation.”
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