Former police inspector abused young men during strip searches, jury told
A former police officer carried out unnecessary strip searches on young men in custody to sexually abuse them, a court has heard.
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Gerald Hutchings, 66, a former police inspector with Hampshire Police, is accused of making young men remove their clothes before subjecting them to sexual assaults.
Bristol Crown Court heard eight complainants allege they were abused by Hutchings at police stations in the Hampshire area over an eight-year period.
Simon Jones, prosecuting, said the complainants were taken to Hutchings’ private office at the police station, where he forced them to strip.
“This case concerns misconduct in public office and sexual offending by the defendant, Gerald Hutchings, a former police inspector, who repeatedly over an eight-year period abused his position of authority by conducting strip searches on young men who had been arrested and under his care,” Mr Jones said.
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“The searches had no justification for being undertaken. They were always done in the defendant’s private office, out of the watchful eyes of any other police officer.
“We say the defendant used his position of authority under the guise of strip searches to commit sexual offences.”
The court heard the complainants – aged in their late teens to early 30s and who cannot be identified for legal reasons – had been arrested for minor offences, such as shoplifting and possessing cannabis.
They would then be taken to Hutchings’ office, where he told them to strip, the court was told.
“They didn’t really have a choice,” Mr Jones said.
“There was no reason for him to have any direct contact with any of these individuals.
“This was a defendant who was able to take advantage of naive young men who came to stand in front of him.”
Referring to one of the complainants, Mr Jones said: “His evidence sets out how he was belittled and humiliated.”
Mr Jones told the jury Hutchings had admitted several counts of misconduct in public office relating to making the complainants strip but denied any sexual touching.
“He does accept the wrongdoing of those strip searches and the form they took,” Mr Jones said.
Following his arrest in 2023, Hutchings gave a prepared statement to police in which he accepted conducting the strip searches but denied any sexual intent or physical contact.
“I never received any sexual gratification from any aspect of my job,” he told officers.
Hutchings, of Ashurst, Southampton, denies five charges of indecent assault, five of causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent and one of misconduct in public office.
He has pleaded guilty to seven charges of misconduct in public office relating to strip searches relating to seven of the complainants.
The trial continues.