A police officer has been jailed for sexually assaulting men after strip searches (Image: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary)
A former police inspector forced men to strip before sexually assaulting them in various police stations across Hampshire. Gerard Hutchings was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a hearing on July 24 at Bristol Crown Court, after being found guilty of sexual and misconduct offences relating to strip searches.
The victims, who were aged between 17 and 31 at the time, had attended the stations to receive a caution or reprimand for minor offences. The 67-year-old, who protested his innocence, subjected 18 male victims to unwarranted strip searches between 1999 and 2007. He also sexually assaulted some of them. Hutchings denied the charges and tried to justify his deplorable behaviour by claiming that the searches were a way of warning them away from any criminality.
During sentencing, victim personal statements detailed the trauma his behaviour caused, the effect on their ability to form and maintain relationships, and how it damaged their trust and confidence in policing and figures of authority.
Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Southey commended the victims for the courage shown during the investigation and trial.
“It has been incredibly difficult for them to revisit a traumatic event in their past that no-one should have had to experience.
“Hutchings exploited the trust placed in him to commit appalling offences against these young men. His actions have had a profound and lasting impact on them. I am deeply sorry for the suffering they have endured.”
DCS Southey reiterated that people like Hutchings have “no place in policing” and the force will do all it can to “root out those who think they can abuse the trust of the people we serve“.
“No sentence can undo what Hutchings did, but I hope it provides some comfort to know that he is now facing the consequences of his actions,” he added.
Hutchings was previously disciplined for similar offences. In 2008, he was jailed for 16 months after admitting 11 misconduct in a public office offences for similar offending in 2007. He was sacked in 2007 after the complaints were made.
In 2020, the force started a new investigation after receiving a report from a man who had been subject to a similar strip search in 2005.
As part of the investigation, officers cross-referenced Hutchings’ police notebook with police records to identify 373 people who came into contact with him at a station.
All those people were visited in person by officers, who used a non-leading questionnaire to establish whether they had been subject to any offences. From there, a further 17 people provided statements on video detailing their experience of Hutchings.
Hutchings, of Wingrove Road, Ashurst, denied 11 charges, including indecent assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. A jury at Bristol Crown Court found him guilty of all charges following a trial in March this year.
He had previously admitted 17 counts of misconduct in public office at a previous hearing. On release, he will subject to notification requirements for life.
The investigation was led by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Operation Marmion team, who investigate allegations of non-recent sexual abuse perpetrated within institutions or by people of prominence.