PC accused of child rape wanted to work in public protection unit
A police officer accused of the rape of a teenage girl had ambitions of working in a unit dealing with vulnerable youngsters, a court has heard.
Cheshire Police constable Ian Naude, 30, from Market Drayton, is accused of raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old in October last year.
PC Laura McCormick told Liverpool Crown Court she had been asked to supervise Naude after his 10-week probation period had been extended due to performance issues.
She said he had showed an interest in the force’s public protection unit, which deals with vulnerable teenagers and children.
She said: “I just thought it was finally an interest he was displaying in some kind of policing.
"It’s not uncommon for probationers to have a goal of where they would like their career to go.”
More from the trial:
The court heard Naude met the 13-year-old complainant when he was called to a domestic incident at her house and later messaged her on Facebook and Snapchat.
PC McCormick told the court she attended the incident with him and spoke to him after seeing him standing next to the girl in the kitchen of the home.
She said: “I advised him that having a young child stood so closely to you isn’t best practice and he should have put some distance between them.”
She said she was “really angry” when Naude told her he had been into the girl’s bedroom and she had shown him her belly button ring.
“I told him not to be so naive,” she said.
'Bravado'
PC McCormick said on another occasion she had commented on the amount of time Naude spent speaking to three young women while on duty in Nantwich on a student night.
She said: “He made some comment that he had got a phone number off one of the girls.
"I just thought it was bravado because it was so far removed from anything we would ever do.”
Naude, who was based at Crewe police station, would "pester" the 13-year-old girl to send him naked photos and told her to caption one "I love you daddy", the court was told.
The jury was shown a video of her police interview, in which she said Naude sent her naked pictures and videos of himself.
She said: "He was getting creepier and creepier every day so I got scareder and scareder every day."
Naude admits sexual activity with a child but claims it was consensual.
Naude also denies four charges of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence and one charge of arranging a child sex offence relating to five other complainants. The trial continues.
He has admitted 31 offences, including inciting children to engage in sexual activity, causing children to watch a sexual act, engaging in sexual communications with children and misconduct in a public office.
