Police release video after investigation into disgraced Aylesbury officer jailed for sexual offence against 13-year-old girl

Police have released a video detailing the investigation into a police officer from Aylesbury, who was jailed for exploiting and engaging in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl.

PC Luke Christopher Horner, 24, who lived in Aylesbury and worked out of Amersham Police Station prior to his arrest, was sentenced on Friday (6 October).

At Northamptonshire Crown Court he was given a six-year and four months jail sentence for engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child aged 13.

He pleaded the guilty to the offences in the same court a month ago, and resigned from Thames Valley Police the week before his hearing.

Former PC Horner was arrested and charged by officers in Northamptonshire, and Head of Child Safeguarding for the force - Detective Chief Inspector Jen Castle has revealed how the disgraced officer was caught in a new video, which can be viewed on the YouTube video embedded in this article.

Horner was off duty in Rushden in Northampton when he met the victim and sexually assaulted her by engaging in penetrative sexual activity, filming part of the act on the girl’s phone.

It was a safeguarding lead at the victim’s school who informed the family of the video’s existence, which kickstarted the investigation, Northamptonshire Police has revealed.

During sentencing, the court heard from a relative of the young girl who said in her victim personal statement: “How can I sleep at night knowing what he did? How can he? How did he go into work, put on his uniform and face his colleagues knowing he had broken the law? I feel sick to my stomach every time I think about it.”

Lead Investigator - Detective Sergeant Sarah Osborne from Northamptonshire Police, added: “No sentence can make up for what Luke Horner has done but I hope the conclusion of this case, and the fact that he is now going to spend time in prison, provides some small comfort to the family of this young girl.

“I want to commend them for the trust they put in us to investigate this crime and for their support throughout – neither of which we have ever taken for granted.

“As the relative of this young girl said in her victim impact statement – how could Luke Horner go into work and put on that uniform, all the while knowing what he had done?

“His behaviour and his actions go against everything we stand for within policing and it is people like him that we continue to work relentlessly to expose and to remove for good.

"I hope this case demonstrates just how seriously we take the protection of children in this county and that it doesn’t matter who you are if you commit an offence, we will do everything we can to put you where you belong – behind bars.”

A misconduct hearing conducted ahead of sentencing by Thames Valley Police found that Horner would have been dismissed had he not resigned. He is barred from working for the police again.

Detective Chief Inspector Castle said: “We are so pleased to have secured justice for the child in this case.

“Police officers and staff who think they can break the law have no place in our profession."