A Hertfordshire Police officer was branded “disgusting” as he was sent to prison for raping a girl under the age of 13.

Today, (Friday, October 19) James Ford, 31, was ordered to spend 18 years and three months in jail with an extended licence period of one year.

It comes after the defendant – formerly of Bishop's Stortford – was found guilty on Wednesday, October 19, of 10 counts of sexual abuse against the same child.

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In a victim’s impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Isobel Ascherson, the girl’s mother said: “You should be able to trust a police officer.”

She described Ford as a “disgusting excuse of a human being”, adding: “No prison sentence is ever going to be long enough for what happened.”

The woman described her child as a “sweet, innocent, chatty, friendly girl” but said that she is “no longer the happy, sociable girl she was before”.

“No child should have to go through what she has,” she said.

The 10 counts of sexual abuse include four counts of rape, four of sexual assault and two of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The defendant was also found guilty of one count of perverting the course of justice by deliberately wiping information from his mobile phone.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: He was found guilty on Wednesday, October 19. Picture: PAHe was found guilty on Wednesday, October 19. Picture: PA (Image: PA)

The offences occurred between 2019 and 2021.

Mr Ford joined the police force in December 2019 and was suspended in November 2021.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Simon Bryan, said to Mr Ford: “As a serving police officer you, of all people, should have protected society against sexual abusers, and you acted as a perpetrator of such vile crimes yourself.”

He told Mr Ford he is a “disgrace” to his office.

Detective Constable Mark Williamson, the case’s officer said: “It is a credit to the victim that the jury saw beyond his lies.

“I hope the sentence today gives a sense of justice to the victim and their family.”

Mr Ford will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The judge also put a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in place, along with a restraining order to protect the victim.

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