Officer ‘held in highest regard’ sent flirty texts to teenagers on his beat

An officer who sent flirty texts to two teenage girls after befriending their families while on duty is facing a prison sentence next month.

Police Constable Keith Burgess, 42, allegedly asked one girl for naked photos in the “sexualised” messages, a court heard.

Another girl claimed he groped her in her kitchen as her mother sat in the next room.

The Hampshire Constabulary officer committed the offences while serving as a neighbourhood officer in Southampton in 2014 and 2015. He was found guilty at Guildford Crown Court of two counts of misconduct in public office in connection with “inappropriate” behaviour towards the teenagers.

He was also found guilty of misconduct for sending “flirtatious” messages to a 17-year-old girl and asking for pictures of her in return.

The judge, Jonathan Black, ordered the jury to find him not guilty – due to insufficient evidence – of sending sexually explicit messages, three counts of sexual assault, a child grooming offence and two child sex abuse offences.

PC Burgess denied any sexual motive behind sending money to a third girl, aged 15, and said it had been to “help her out” financially. He was cleared of misconduct and grooming in relation to her.

The defendant told the court he had a “very crude” sense of humour and some of the messages he had sent to the girls were “immature” but he had not intended to follow through with the suggested behaviour.

Judge Black released PC Burgess on conditional bail until he is sentenced on June 30, warning him: “You have been convicted of two matters . . . and you must realise you face a prison sentence for these matters.

“That means I need a report from the Probation Service both on the impact of a prison sentence and the probable length of such a sentence.”

Deputy Chief Constable Sara Glen said: “We welcome the verdict and we thank the victims and witnesses who supported this prosecution. Keith Burgess was considered by the communities he served to be a trusted and respected police officer who was held in the highest regard.

“Many of the families he met in the course of his policing duty looked to him for help and support during their times of need. They welcomed him into their homes and trusted him to help, but he betrayed that trust in the most appalling way.

“We demand the highest standards from all our police officers and staff and the public can rightly expect us to robustly investigate any abuse of their position of power. There is no place in policing for those who ignore their professional duty and moral responsibility.”