Serving Metropolitan Police officer charged with sexually assaulting two children and raping adult
16 July 2024, 13:24 | Updated: 16 July 2024, 13:56
A serving constable in the Metropolitan Police has been charged with a number of sexual offences against three victims - including two children.
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In total, Jamie Howlett, 33, formerly of Horley, Surrey, is charged with 15 offences.
He is charged with six counts of sexual assault by touching of a child under 13.
Three of these charges relate to one victim and three charges relate to a second victim.
He has also been further charged with five offences of rape, one charge of controlling and coercive behaviour, one charge of sexual assault by touching, one charge of sexual assault by penetration and one charge of assault causing actual bodily harm - all against a third adult victim.
The offences took place in Surrey and are alleged to have taken place between mid 2019 and early 2021.
He will next appear at Staines Magistrates Court on 9 August.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed he has been suspended from duty.
In March 2023, figures showed only four in ten Londoners still trust the Metropolitan Police following the release of damning new figures – with a mere 4% of young women saying they have a high level of faith in the force.
The damage to trust in the Met follows a series of high-profile scandals including the Sarah Everard case and the conduct of two police officers - Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis - who took pictures of the corpses of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman after their murders and posted them to WhatsApp.
Furthermore, enquiries into the standards of officers in the Met has uncovered racism and misogyny among its ranks, with officers in a group with Couzens making jokes about rape and domestic violence, while disturbing messages emerged in group chats made up of some police based at Charing Cross.
In January, LBC revealed 139 Metropolitan police officers and staff are being reinvestigated for rape and sexual abuse after they were initially allowed to keep their jobs.
Their cases have been reopened as part of a review which was prompted by the conviction of serial rapist David Carrick, who attacked 12 women whilst serving with the force over 17 years.
Some 28 of those are facing more than one allegation, with one officer accused of eight counts of sexual assault. Another is being investigated for three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.
It has prompted fresh fears over the number of suspected predators who have been allowed to remain in the force.
Last year the Met apologised and admitted PC David Carrick should have been sacked earlier, after it emerged they were aware of allegations against him including rape, assault and harassment from 2002.
He remained a serving officer until his arrest in 2021.
Nick Ferrari speaks to Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
