A SOUTH Australian police officer, who works in one of the most sensitive areas of SAPOL, has been charged for having repeated sex with an underage girl.

The man, 50, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was arrested and charged on Thursday by Special Crimes Investigation Branch with three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse.

The arrest comes as the State Government is reeling from a series of child sex abuse allegations involving public servants and employees of the besieged Families SA.

The Sunday Mail understands the girl is currently 16 years old and that the alleged offences against the officer could date back several years.

If found guilty, the man could face a maximum 10 years imprisonment.

A police spokeswoman said she was unable to release further details of the case for legal reasons but said police had acted swiftly once a complaint was made against the officer.

“South Australia Police received a complaint on Thursday relating to the alleged inappropriate behaviour of a police officer,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

“Detectives from Special Crimes Investigation Branch (SCIB) acted upon the complaint immediately. The police officer was arrested later that same day.”

The spokeswoman said the officer had been stood down.

“As per SAPOL’s policy, the officer has been suspended with pay pending the court outcome of the charges,” she said.

The man was remanded on bail to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in October.

The case is the latest in a string of sex cases involving government employees, notably a 32-year-old man who is facing seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with preschool children at a government-run home over 18 months, up until late 2012.



He also faces aggravated counts of producing, possessing and disseminating child exploitation material.

On Friday, Premier Jay Weatherill appointed former Supreme Court justice Margaret Nyland to head a Royal Commission into Families SA and the handling of sex abuse allegations.

She has been told to report back to the Government in 12 months.

The case against the police officer is not the first time a SA police officer has been charged with unlawful sex with a minor.

In 2009, former police prosecutor Andrew Robert Macdonald Storr was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to multiple sex offences against a girl, 15, at Whyalla and Taperoo in 2004 and a 13 year-old girl at Whyalla between May and July 2007.