Ex-Met Officer Caught with Child Abuse Images
Benedict Ashton, 38, a former Special Constable with the Metropolitan Police, has been sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work for possessing indecent images of children. The Bromley resident was arrested in August 2022 after a National Crime Agency referral uncovered his offending.
Twitter Sting Leads to Arrest
The investigation began when a Twitter user, pretending to be a 13-year-old boy, requested illicit images of children. Police traced the account, email, and IP address back to Ashton. Confronted by authorities, he admitted owning the indecent images.
Guilty Plea and Community Sentence
At Bromley Magistrates’ Court on September 10, 2024, Ashton pleaded guilty to making eight category B and 24 category C indecent images of a child. District Judge Sarah Turnock handed down a six-month community order, which includes:
- 200 hours unpaid work
- 30 days rehabilitation activity
- Five years on the sex offenders’ register
- A Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting internet use and unsupervised contact with minors
Dismissed and Banned from Policing
A Met Police spokesperson confirmed Ashton faced a misconduct hearing on January 30 last year. He would have been dismissed if still serving. Ashton has now been added to the College of Policing’s barred list, ending any chance of a police career.
The Met withheld publishing the misconduct outcome initially to avoid prejudicing the criminal case, the spokesperson added.
