The United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service has given permission for criminal accusations of sexual misconduct to proceed against Michael Lockwood, who used to be the chief executive of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
On Friday, six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape against a minor were authorized against Lockwood, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The alleged offences were perpetrated between October 1985 and March 1986.
The 64-year-old resigned from his position at the IOPC in December of last year after it was revealed that he was the target of a police investigation.
“After carefully considering all of the evidence provided to us by Humberside Police, we have authorised charges against Michael Lockwood, 64, for nine offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956,” said Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Special Crime Division at the CPS.
“Mr Lockwood has been charged with six counts of indecent assault and three offences of rape against a girl under the age of 16, alleged to have been committed during the 1980s,” she added.
Lockwood is expected to appear before judges in Hull on the 28th of June, according to details provided by Sky News.
It has been reported by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Channel 5 that in the United Kingdom, a police officer is being accused of rape on a weekly basis.
For the past five years, it has been reported that more than 300 British officers have been accused of rape and 500 of sexual assault, according to the report.
Only ten people have been convicted of sexual assault. The great majority – 350 – are still employed by the police, it was claimed.