A former Met Police officer who sexually abused and raped three teenage girls - including one aged 13 - has been jailed for 24 years. Anthony Smith, 56, began a campaign of abuse decades ago in which he raped and sexually assaulted the youngsters over a four-year period.
At the time of the crimes, Smith was a serving officer with the Met Police and the three girls were between 13 and 17 years old. Smith left the Met in 2004 after he was convicted of gross indecency with a child under 16 in a separate case.
He also worked as a swimming teacher in Llandudno, Wales, before joining the police in 1987. An investigation was launched after one of the women came forward in 2020 and reported she had been abused by Smith as a teenager.
The other two victims then came forward as a result shortly afterwards, Surrey Police said. During a three-week trial that finished on June 30, all three victims described how Smith raped and sexually abused them numerous times over several years.
At Guildford Crown Court, Smith was found guilty of 13 charges of rape and indecent sexual assault against three separate victims. Smith, now of Weybridge, Surrey, was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Friday.
The court heard one of the victims describe how Smith “manipulated” and “controlled” her and made her feel “worthless and terrified”. In a victim impact statement read to the court, she told Smith he abused his position of trust by appearing to be a pillar of the community.
She said: “To the outside world you were a pillar of the community, a shining example of a police officer - yet here you were, abusing your position of trust, making me feel powerless, guilty and ashamed of what I was being made to do. Feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety are my ‘normal’ and I struggle every day to fight this.
“I have carried the shame of being an abuse victim around with me throughout my life and this has negatively impacted my intimate relationships. Even though I know that the abuse was not my fault, the shame never fully leaves a childhood sexual abuse survivor.”
Detective Sergeant Matt Cable, from Surrey Police’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team, described Smith after the sentencing as "predatory" and that his position as a police officer meant his victims felt they could not come forward.
He said: “We launched an investigation after one of the victims came forward and reported the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Smith. This led to a further two victims coming forward and resulted in an in-depth and complex inquiry with a significant number of allegations of serious sexual abuse, including rape, which had spanned many years.
“As a police officer at the time of his offending, Smith was in a position of power which meant that his victims did not feel they were able to speak out about what he had done to them until many years later. The sentence he has received today reflects the extent of his predatory behaviour in the way he targeted young girls and used them for his own gratification.
“To see him behind bars will hopefully enable these three women to move on with their lives in the knowledge that he has finally been brought to justice for his heinous and indefensible crimes. I would like to reassure anyone who has suffered any form of sexual abuse that you will always be listened to and all allegations will be thoroughly investigated.”
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