A volunteer Metropolitan Police officer who raped and sexually assaulted a child he met online used his position to “intimidate” his victims, police have said.
James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, groomed one of his two victims online, repeatedly telling her he “loved” her before sexually assaulting the girl when she was just 12 years old, a trial at Amersham Law Courts heard.
On Thursday, in relation to one complainant, Bubb was found guilty of one count of raping a child under 13, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and one count of assault by penetration.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child in relation to that complainant, and found guilty of one count of rape against another complainant.
The court heard the defendant began training with the Met in 2020.
One victim told police Bubb had “spoke a lot about the powers he had” in his role with the force as a special constable while the other said he would use “police training techniques” on her, jurors heard.
After the verdicts, Detective Sergeant Catriona Cameron, who works in the child abuse investigation unit of Thames Valley Police, said the 27-year-old’s actions were “absolutely” a breach of trust.
She said: “The investigation we led hasn’t identified the defendant used his position to identify and meet victims, but there was an element that he used the fact that they are a special constable in order to intimidate and they have used officer safety techniques and restraint on the victims as part of their offending.
“Every person that is a frontline officer will get taught a certain amount of safety techniques to use when dealing with members of the public that might be violent or verbally aggressive, and, yeah, the defendant has used those as part of his offending.”
Asked how much of a breach of trust Bubb’s actions were, Ms Cameron said: “Absolutely, I mean, anybody as a police officer, in that position of trust, we get taught these things and we should only be using them as appropriate.”
The trial heard that Bubb met one of the victim when she was 12 at a Christian camp where he had been working as a steward.
Of the camp, she said: “One of the victims has stated that that’s where they met and it’s understood as part of the investigation that the defendant has used that position, which is a position of trust, which has therefore enabled the victim and their family to kind of have trust in what they’re doing.
“So, there is a certain amount that he’s used that position in order to meet and befriend that victim.”
Ms Cameron said of Bubb’s offending: “They’ve identified a vulnerable child to start off with, groomed them.
“They then used fear, intimidation, violence and weapons to abuse the child going forward over a number of years, so very dangerous and very predatory in his offending.”
She said that while safeguarding measures on some online platforms had improved and new legislation had enhanced the protection of children, areas of vulnerability “absolutely” remained.
Jurors were told the defendant and the alleged victims would be referred to by their biological sex throughout the trial when discussing the allegations.
All charges took place between January 1 2018 and April 2 2024.
Bubb, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, will be sentenced at a date the court has not yet set.
