Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Paedophile police officer Ian Naude has been jailed for 25 years for 37 offences including the rape and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

The 30-year-old – who was based at Crewe Station – was sentenced today at Liverpool Crown Court after being found guilty last month of a string of vile crimes.

The Cheshire Police officer met his young rape victim while he was on duty and days later picked her up in his car while her mother was out.

The 'committed paedophile' drove her to a quiet country lane where he raped her in the back seat while filming the attack on his phone.

He had denied raping his victim, telling the jury the sex was consensual and she 'seemed to be enjoying it'.

An investigation revealed he had preyed on vulnerable, underage girls, using a Snapchat profile calling himself 'King of the North' and a fake Facebook account.

He would send messages where he blackmailed his victims and persuaded them to send pictures of themselves undressed.

In one sick exchange, he asked one 14-year-old girl "Soooo what’s the most you’ve ever done with a boy?" and he told a 13-year-old "You're old enough baby".

Honorary recorder of Liverpool Judge Clement Goldstone QC sentenced Naude, of Market Drayton, to 25 years in prison with an extended licence period of five years.

He said: "In order to impose your will on a young girl, three weeks past her 13th birthday, and to commit offences of rape and sexual assault against her, you used and abused your position as a Cheshire Police officer, thereby enabling you to satisfy your lust and perversion."

The trial heard Naude joined the force in April 2017 and had ambitions of working in a unit dealing with vulnerable youngsters.

He had joined Cheshire Constabulary 'to gain the keys to a sweetshop' and meet his victims.

Naude, who snapped a smirking selfie after raping the youngster, was said to be obsessed with taking the virginity of teenage girls and groomed victims over social media.

He would blackmail and threaten vulnerable girls, persuade them to send pictures of themselves undressed, tell them to call him 'daddy' and send them videos of himself masturbating.

At his trial, Naude told the jury that he told the 13-year-old girl to 'call me daddy', and claimed that she told him that she loved him.

The court heard that Naude met her when he was called to a domestic incident at her home in October 2017.

Three days later, he picked her up while her mother was out and drove her to a quiet country lane.

They then got in the back seat of his car and had sex as Naude took photos and videos on his mobile phone.

Chilling messages sent by the paedophile police officer to his young victims were revealed.

Using a fake profile, Naude said to one victim: "Oooooh you're still 13...that's so sexy...do you mind the age gap?"

When she did not respond he bombarded her with messages.

One read: "Girls are having sex when they're 10 and 11 these days."

He also demanded the girls sent him explicit photos and when they refused he threatened them.

He told one girl who told him she broke her camera: "No you didn't. If you want to lie to me then you're going to pay the price.

"Fine, I'm just gonna mail all your friends then... I'm getting sick of getting f***** around by you."

One victim suggested she would take her own life as he pressured her to send pictures.

The jury found him guilty of raping and sexually assaulting the 13-year-old. He was also found guilty last month of four counts of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence and one count of arranging the commission of a child sex offence in relation to five other complainants aged between 12 and 15.

Originally from South Africa, Naude had already admitted 30 other offences, including inciting children to engage in sexual activity, causing children to watch sexual acts and misconduct in a public office.

He had also admitted to grooming underage girls via a fake Facebook profile.

Naude was already being investigated for sex offences when he became a student officer in Cheshire.

Cheshire Constabulary said his appointment was delayed from January 2017 to April because he was alleged to have raped a woman in Staffordshire.

No further action was taken in the case and Naude was allowed to join, but reports of child grooming in Staffordshire and West Mercia, which named him as a suspect in January and February 2017, were not picked up by Cheshire Police until after his arrest in November that year.

Acting chief constable Janette McCormick said processes had been changed since Naude's arrest.

Following sentencing, Detective Inspector Kate Tomlinson, the Senior Investigating Officer for the case, said: “Ian Naude is a sexual predator of the most evil kind. He joined Cheshire Police with the sole purpose of gaining a position of trust so he could prey on young, vulnerable girls. His behaviour and actions were truly appalling and the sentence handed down to him today reflects that.

“I have worked on this investigation for the past 12 months alongside a dedicated team of officers and staff. It has been a long, complex and very challenging investigation. Never would I have imagined that I would be investigating a police officer and for such horrendous crimes.

“It was Ian Naude’s job to enforce the law and protect people from harm. Instead he became the most dangerous of predators and betrayed the very people he swore to protect.

“The details of this case are hard enough for someone like me - a police officer with 24 years’ service - to hear. For the victims who had to go through it – it has left them completely traumatised.

“I want to acknowledge the incredible bravery that these young girls have shown – especially the 13-year-old girl who found the courage to come forward and disclose that Naude had raped her in his car.”

Want to tell us about something going on where you live? Let us know - Tweet us @SOTLive or message us on our Facebook page . And if you have pictures to share, tag us on Instagram at StokeonTrentLive .