Police Officer that lured young boys into sending indecent images on Discord.

Former Metropolitan Police Officer Avoids Jail for Sending Sexual Messages to a Minor

PC Will Scott-Barrett, 33, has been sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 12 months, after admitting to sending sexual messages to a 15-year-old boy.

The court heard that Scott-Barrett pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual communication with a child on or before February 3, 2022. He had been in contact with the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, through the Snapchat and Discord social media apps since April 2020.

Scott-Barrett, a resident of Bromley, South East London, sent explicit sexual pictures and videos to the boy. The officer was off-duty at the time of his offending, which is not connected to his role in the force. He has since resigned from his position.

A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police stated that a misconduct hearing determined that if Scott-Barrett had not resigned, he would have been dismissed.

During sentencing, Judge Robin Johnson said: "This is undoubtedly a sad case. Sad for you, in that you lost your job and your good character, but also sad, troubling and worrying for the family (of the victim). My sympathies are with the victim and his family rather than you. This kind of offending harms children, that is self-evident. The harm done to the victim is incalculable. You were previously of good character, you were a serving police officer at the time. I have accepted that you expressed genuine remorse and are taking steps to assess your offending."