A school liaison officer for the Met Police yesterday admitted having sex with a 14-year-old girl and possessing indecent images of children as young as two.
Some of paedophile PC Hussain Chehab’s shocking offences took place when he was a serving officer whose duties included meeting parents and children at school gates in north London.
The 22-year-old is facing jail after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child, one of sexual communication with a child and three counts of making indecent photographs of children.
No verdict was recorded in a further four counts of making indecent photographs of a child and so the Judge ordered they be left to lie on file.
PC Hussain Chehab is facing jail after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child, one of sexual communication with a child and three counts of making indecent photographs of children
The 22-year-old had sex with the schoolgirl on at least two occasions between March and September 2019, when he was aged 19
The revelations come as Scotland Yard grapples with the fallout from last week’s David Carrick scandal, after the beleaguered force was found to have had one of Britain’s worst rapists lurking within its ranks for 20 years.
Chehab had sex with the schoolgirl on at least two occasions between March and September 2019, when he was aged 19 and before he joined the Met Police.
An interest in teenagers
Wood Green Crown Court also heard that the officer was found with 882 still and moving indecent images of children on his devices while a Met officer.
Of these, 293 were Category A images – the most serious – and some were said to have been of children aged just two.
Sarah Ellis, defending Chehab, said the images had come to be on his devices due to membership of chat groups, adding he did not seek images of the youngest children himself.
‘He will say that yes he had an interest in teenagers but he does not have an interest in children as young as two,’ she told the court.
Wood Green Crown Court (pictured) also heard that the officer was found with 882 still and moving indecent images of children on his devices while a Met officer
Judge John Dodd, KC, released him on bail under strict conditions he must not contact his victim or have unsupervised contact with anyone aged under 18.
But he warned Chehab, from Barnet, north London, that he faced a lengthy prison term.
‘You have admitted some extremely serious offences and I don’t want you to misunderstand – you must prepare yourself for a prison sentence,’ Judge Dodd said.
He is due to be sentenced at the same court on March 17.
Following his guilty plea, an accelerated misconduct process has been initiated and will be held as quickly as possible.
Chehab joined the Met Police in March 2020 and was attached to North Area Command Unit.
His offending came to light when the family of a 16-year-old girl called police to raise concerns about the fact she had recently been in a relationship with Chehab, which they believed began when she was 15 years old.
He was arrested on August 24, 2021 during which time a number of digital devices were seized.
He was placed on restricted duties, which ordered him to work within the confines of a police building in a non public-facing role and to have no contact with schools or children.
When his devices were examined, a number of indecent images were found and he was further arrested on October 28, when he was also suspended from duty.
Analysis of further devices also revealed messages between PC Chehab and a 14-year-old girl engaging in sexual communication. She later provided evidence to police that they had entered into a sexual relationship in 2019 when she was just 14.
On September 13 he was charged with the above offences.
Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines, lead for policing in Enfield where PC Chehab served, said: ‘Our thoughts foremost today are with the young girls who Chehab exploited and took advantage of for his own sexual gratification.
‘These offences are made all the more sickening by the fact that some of the image offences were committed while PC Chehab was in a role as a Safer Schools officer attached to a secondary school in Enfield between May 2021 and his arrest in August 2021.
‘Once the initial allegations against PC Chehab were made, he was immediately removed from his role while the investigation took place. We have worked closely with the school concerned, and Enfield local authority, to ensure that there were no further unreported safeguarding incidents or missed opportunities.
‘A review of the information provided to the Met prior to him joining as a police officer was carried out and nothing was found that could have indicated his offending.
‘Prior to commencing his role as a Safer Schools Officer he was also subject to further Child and Vulnerable Group Supervision vetting, in line with the current vetting standards for all those who work with children and young persons.
‘This news will of course cause considerable damage and concern, not only to the local community, but Londoners as a whole, who place their trust in police officers to go into our schools alongside their children every day and keep them safe.
‘While no evidence has been found linking any of Chehab’s offending to his role, we are engaging with our local schools, community forums and independent advisory groups to reassure them following the damage his actions will have caused.
‘The Met continues to ruthlessly target those who corrupt our identity. We have made it clear there is no place for the likes of PC Chehab in the Met and will take quick and immediate action to arrest and prosecute anyone who commits such abhorrent criminal acts, and will work to quickly remove them from the organisation.’
His crimes come as the Met urgently reviews about 1,100 officers and staff who have had complaints about domestic abuse or sexual offending made about them in the last decade in the wake of the Carrick scandal.
Last Monday firearms officer Carrick, 48, admitted 49 charges against a dozen women including 24 counts of rape committed during a 17-year campaign of horrific offending.