File: New Scotland Yard (PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)A Met Police officer who was attached to a secondary school has pleaded guilty to child sexual offences.
PC Hussain Chehab, 22, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to four counts of sexual activity with a teenage girl in 2019, before he joined the force.
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of sexual communications with a child.
Some of the image offences were committed while Chehab was a ‘safer schools’ officer at an Enfield secondary. Police said his “sickening” offending was not linked to his role.
Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines, lead for policing in Enfield, said: “Our thoughts foremost today are with the young girls who Chehab exploited and took advantage of for his own sexual gratification.”
PC Chehab’s offences came to light in July 2021 when the family of a sixteen-year-old girl called police over fears he had been in a relationship with her, which began when she was just fifteen.
He was arrested in August 2021 and placed on restricted duties, barring him from contact with the public or children.
Police found a number of indecent images on his phone and further arrested him in October, suspending him from duty.
They also found sexual communications between Chehab and a 14-year-old on another device.
The victim told police that they had entered into a sexual relationship in 2019 when she was just 14.
Detective Chief Superintendent Haines said that officers immediately removed PC Chehab from his school role as soon as allegations were made and that police had worked with the school and Enfield Council to ensure there were no further unreported safeguarding incidents or missed opportunities.
She said no information had been given to the Met before he joined in March 2020 which caused concern and that he also passed further vetting required to work with children.
“This news will of course cause considerable damage and concern, not only to the local community, but Londoners as a whole, who place their trust in police officers to go into our schools alongside their children every day and keep them safe,” she said.
“While no evidence has been found linking any of Chehab’s offending to his role, we are engaging with our local schools, community forums and independent advisory groups to reassure them following the damage his actions will have caused.”
A misconduct hearing will now be held as “quickly as possible”.
Chehab was released on bail for sentencing at the same court on Friday, March 17.
No verdict was recorded in a further four counts of making indecent photographs of a child and they were ordered to be left to lie on file.
