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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/19/police-chief-convicted-for-having-child-sex-abuse-video-on-phone-robyn-williams
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| Police chief convicted for having child sex abuse video on phone | Police chief convicted for having child sex abuse video on phone |
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| Met superintendent Robyn Williams cleared of corruption after three-week trial | Met superintendent Robyn Williams cleared of corruption after three-week trial |
| A police chief has been convicted of having a child sex abuse video on her phone but cleared of corruption. | A police chief has been convicted of having a child sex abuse video on her phone but cleared of corruption. |
| Metropolitan police superintendent Robyn Williams had been on trial for three weeks over the claims which she denied. | |
| Williams, 54, honoured for her work after the Grenfell fire disaster, is one of the most senior African Caribbean female police officers. | |
| She was sent the video via WhatsApp on her phone by her sister in February 2018, who was outraged by its content and wanted the paedophile behind it hunted down and caught. | |
| Her sister, co-defendent Jennifer Hodge, 56, was convicted of distributing an indecent image of a child. She sent it via WhatsApp to 17 people, including Williams. | |
| Hodge had been sent it by her partner, Dido Massivi, 61, who was convicted of distributing two indecent images and possessing an extreme image. | |
| Prosecutor Richard Wright QC, opening the case at the Old Bailey, made it clear the defendants had no sexual interest in the images, but made serious errors of judgment: “We do not suggest that these defendants had any sexual interest in this video, nor do we say that they were distributing it or possessing it for any sinister purpose. This is instead a case in which we allege that each of them made serious errors of judgment about how to handle this video and in dealing with it as they did, each of them has committed serious criminal offences.” | |
| Williams looked stunned as the jury delivered its verdict after over 10 hours of deliberation. She was convicted by a 10 to one majority verdict. She denied possessing an indecent image of a child and corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privilege. | |
| The prosecution claimed she corruptly failed to report the child abuse video fearing it would land her sister in trouble, and lied about being unaware of its indecent nature. | |
| The jury acquitted her of the more serious charge of failing in her duty, but the conviction for possessing an indecent image nonetheless jeopardises her 36 year career. | |
| The jury heard Williams was a founder member of the National Black Police Association, helped set up a gay police association and campaigned for more women in policing. She has received the Queen’s police medal and was commended for her work after the Grenfell Tower fire. | |
| “As an experienced officer of high standing, we say she knew full well what was expected of her and moreover that there was an urgent child welfare need to report the video as soon as she saw it,” Wright said. | |
| Williams denied having seen the video. | |
| After sending the video, Hodge sent a message expressing her outrage about the video: “Sorry had to send this it’s so sad that this person would put this out please post this and let’s hope he gets life.” | |
| The crown say that 40 minutes later Williams opened WhatsApp. Wright said: “She would have seen a tile [thumbnail] that showed the first frame of the video. It would have been clear … and we say it would have been immediately obvious exactly what it was: an indecent video of a child.” | |
| The jury heard Williams then tried to contact her sister, calling and texting. Hodge later sent a WhatsApp message to Williams asking: “Could you find out if it’s been reported?”, which the prosecutor said was a reference to the indecent video. | |
| Williams and Hodge later spoke but Wright told the jury the senior officer still did not report the video. | |
| Another person sent the video by Hodge reported it to police. A police investigation began, which identified Williams as one of those who received the video. | |
| The image was sent to Williams while she was attending gym classes on a day off. Her barrister, Anesta Weekes QC, asked her about the crown’s case that she must have seen the image soon after it was sent to her on that Saturday morning. | |
| Williams said: “That’s not the case. I did not see anything … I really did not see anything.” | |
| She told the jury she sometimes did not look at or open messages sent to her on WhatsApp and that she would act to report or stop a crime even if she was off-duty. | |
| Williams, who at the time was the borough commander for Sutton in south London, told the jury she never saw the image of a man sexually assaulting a girl, and would have taken immediate taken action if she had. | |
| “If I’d seen anything remotely like that, I would have simply, simply – I am on speed dial to my chief inspector – I would have called my lead for safeguarding and asked what was the best possible way to get this evidence into the chain of action, so we could safeguard and best protect this child. Simple phone call, no discussion.” | |
| All three will be sentenced on 26 November. | |
| Supporters of Williams were aghast that she was put on trial when there was no evidence she played the video. Some in policing were also concerned that the case appeared to show a black officer being picked on, threatened with humiliation, ruin and jail. | |
| The Police Superintendents’ Association and Black Police Association asked the Met to review the case five times, but the force declined. |