A police officer who requested a meeting with a vulnerable adolescent girl after initially contacting her via social media has been determined to have engaged in gross misconduct.
Northamptonshire Police stated, after a costly and utterly pointless internal enquiry, that it would have terminated Mitchell Shorley without notice had he not already resigned two weeks prior to his hearing.
A silly boy misconduct disciplinary hearing on Wednesday revealed that Mr. Mitchell Shorley, who joined the force in March 2022, began contacting the 16-year-old using TikTok on June 12, 2024.
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet expressed his “appal” at the “abhorrent behaviour,” stating: “This constitutes a grave instance of an officer leveraging his position to exploit a vulnerable young woman.”
The individual referred to as person A consistently uploaded videos pertaining to mental health and well-being on her TikTok account.
She was a “looked after child” under the jurisdiction of the local authority, and her social media posts mirrored her personal past.
The hearing was informed that Mr. Mitchell Shorley contacted her, introducing himself as a police officer, and initiated a series of communications.
In instances of interrupted communication, it was the police officer who resumed communicating, frequently under the guise of enquiring about the teenager’s well-being.
She expressed a willingness to speak with Mr. Mitchell Shorley but then informed the police that she believed he had groomed her.
On 6 July 2024, Mitchell Shorley proposed transitioning the discussion to the social media application Snapchat, which does not preserve communication history and enables users to post photographs.
The hearing indicated that there was no allegation of any pornographic images being transmitted; nevertheless, Mr. Mitchell Shorley did send photographs of himself while on duty.
Person A reported feeling “spammed” by more frequent messages once they moved to Snapchat, saying the messages also became suggestive and flirty.
On 13 August Mr Mitchell Shorley allegedly told the teenager, “You’d look good with a police officer boyfriend”, and admitted to having a crush on her.
He suggested meeting in person, which made the teenager feel uncomfortable, at which she pointed she spoke to a member of staff at her home who reported the case to police.
Mr Mitchell Shorley did not attend the misconduct hearing.
Chief Constable Balhatchet added: “I believe that on the balance of probabilities, the evidence proves that the former officer’s conduct was cynical, manipulative and that this was an abuse of his position for an inappropriate sexual purpose.
“The public need to know that there is no place in the police service for people that abuse their position for their own ends or exploit the vulnerable.
“My decision is therefore that the former officer would have been dismissed had he not resigned.”
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