A man who posed as a police officer before carrying out bogus searches and sexually assaulting two 16-year-old schoolgirls has been jailed. Aaron Grimshaw, 23, approached the teenagers at Tutshill Recreation Ground in Gloucestershire and falsely claimed he was a police officer who needed to search them for drugs. Grimshaw produced a wallet containing a metal emblem which he presented as a police badge. He told the girls that if they refused to be searched they would be taken to a police station and their parents would be contacted. Frightened by what they believed could happen if they refused, the teenagers agreed to the purported searches.

Girls sexually assaulted during bogus searches

Grimshaw then sexually assaulted both girls under the pretence of carrying out a police search, touching their breasts, legs and bottoms underneath their clothing. During the incident, one of the teenagers objected and shouted words to the effect of: “No, stop, I am not OK with this.” Their friends became aware of what was happening and gathered around Grimshaw before beginning to film him. As he was challenged, Grimshaw insisted that one of the girls had consented. He then claimed he was going to call for police backup before leaving the recreation ground.

Teenagers took video evidence to police

Rather than posting the footage online, the teenagers took the recording directly to a police station. Officers established that Grimshaw was not a police officer and had no authority to search the girls. The footage provided by the group became evidence in the investigation. Grimshaw later pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on a female and was sentenced to one year in prison for those offences.

Further child sexual offences uncovered

The investigation also resulted in Grimshaw being dealt with for a series of separate child sexual offences. These included sexual activity with a child, engaging in sexual communication with a child and making indecent photographs of a child. He received a further four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for those offences. The case highlights the actions of the two girls and their friends, who challenged Grimshaw, recorded what was happening and preserved the footage before taking it directly to police.

Originally published by UKNIP.