A student police officer from Market Drayton who served with Cheshire Constabulary has been found guilty of raping a teenage girl – just after he clocked off duty.
Ian Naude was convicted today following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court. The 30-year-old, who has been dismissed from Cheshire Constabulary, is due to be sentenced on 13 December.
Naude joined Cheshire Constabulary in April 2017 and, following a period of training, he was based at Crewe Local Policing Unit with a tutor constable. It was here whilst on duty that he came into contact with a 13-year-old girl after being called to an incident at her home.
The incident did not involve the teenager directly but, over a 24-hour period, he groomed her, encouraged her to send him indecent images of herself and on 25 October 2017 – after clocking off duty for the afternoon – he went to her house to meet her.
The girl got into his car and he drove her to a secluded spot on nearby waste ground where he sexually assaulted her and then raped her – filming part of what happened on his mobile phone.
The girl’s parents raised their concerns with police on 3 November 2017 and Naude was swiftly identified as the suspect.
The force took immediate action to investigate the allegation. He was arrested the following day and was immediately suspended from duty.
Naude was subsequently charged on 4 November 2017 with seven offences relating to the one victim and he was remanded into custody. He was later dismissed from the force at a special hearing.
Abuse of position
Following today’s guilty verdict Detective Chief Superintendent Aaron Duggan said: “It was Ian Naude’s job to enforce the law and protect the most vulnerable from harm. Instead he did the opposite and abused his position as a student police constable and used the power he had in that role to manipulate a young girl and take advantage of her, raping her in his car. As if that wasn’t bad enough he filmed part of what happened on his mobile phone.
“His behaviour was disgusting and the impact was devastating. I cannot begin to imagine what the victim has had to go through – first disclosing what happened to her and then having to relive the details during the trial.
“The courage and bravery that she has shown is nothing short of remarkable and I only hope that she can begin in some way to rebuild her life now that Naude has been convicted.”
The court heard that during the course of the investigation a number of electronic devices belonging to Naude were seized and examined. These revealed a large collection of indecent images and videos of children.
As detectives began to piece together the case it became clear that Naude had been scouring the internet in search of young girls – using two alter egos (Bruce Ian Wayne and Jake Green) and an image of a young man on his profile to incite his victims.
He would approach them via social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Kik. His username on Snapchat was ‘King of the North’. He would always start with ‘Hi, you look pretty and interesting’ before moving quickly onto a simple ‘question and answer’ game, progressing to conversations littered with flirtatious and sexual language. He would quickly demand nude images and threaten to expose the girl to her friends if she refused. He was extremely persistent exploiting the obvious vulnerabilities of his victims.
When communicating with the girls Naude would make them call him ‘Daddy’.
He also sent the girls explicit photographs and videos of himself. In court it was heard that he also attempted to meet up with the girls face-to-face.
As the investigation unravelled further charges were brought against Naude – 38 in total. These related to nine victims aged between 12 and 19.
During previous court appearances Naude had pleaded guilty to 31 of the 38 charges – these included two offences of misconduct in a public office.
Detective Chief Superintendent Duggan added: “Ian Naude’s behaviour is nothing short of despicable. Police officers are placed in a position of trust and there are clear guidelines about the standards expected from a police officer, having contact with members of the public and accessing police information.
“Naude received training in all of these areas as part of his role and clearly knew what was expected of him. Sadly, he chose to ignore everything he had learnt. As soon as the allegations came to light Naude was suspended from the force and has been dismissed as an officer. There is no place in the police service for people like Naude.
“Cheshire Constabulary is committed to investigating any allegations of this nature – no matter who the alleged perpetrator is. Police officers are not above the law and will be treated in the same way as any other suspect.
“As a force we take any allegations of rape or sexual assault extremely seriously. Victims should never feel ashamed talking about what has happened to them. I would encourage anyone who has experienced this type of abuse to come forward and report it to the police – rest assured you will be taken seriously, listened to and treated with compassion.”
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