Last year, James Evans (pictured) was jailed for four years after having sex with a child rape victim he met on dating app Tinder
Police officers are being accused of sexually exploiting crime victims and witnesses every three days, figures show.
Since the start of April, the police watchdog has received 66 claims that predatory staff have taken advantage of vulnerable contacts.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission also revealed that since April 2014, it has received 320 referrals of sexual exploitation cases.
Some 57 required investigation and inquiries into 33 are still going on. The IPCC updated its guidance earlier this year to state that such cases should automatically be referred.
IPCC chairman Anne Owers said: ‘Police personnel who exploit people in vulnerable positions for sexual gratification have no place in policing.
‘In some cases, victims of sexual abuse are being approached by an officer with the intention of beginning an improper relationship. This is unacceptable.’
The figures were released after the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary yesterday criticised forces over their ‘disappointing’ efforts to tackle sexual exploitation by police.
Last year a Scotland Yard officer was jailed for four years after having sex with a child rape victim he met on dating app Tinder.
PC James Evans, 26, swapped ‘sex talk’ messages with the vulnerable 15-year-old schoolgirl.
She performed a sex act on him in his car, while he was driving her home from a session with child mental health services.
Despite knowing she was under 16 and a rape victim, Evans later took her to his flat in Ruislip, west London, where they had sex.
Evans, now of Pontypridd, Wales, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child. He was sacked from the Met in November last year.
PC James Evans, 26, swapped ‘sex talk’ messages with the vulnerable 15-year-old schoolgirl, Isleworth Crown Court heard