- The policeman who supported the family of murdered schoolgirl
Jessica Chapman was yesterday charged with a sex attack on a second child.
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- Detective Constable Brian Stevens, 41, who is already
accused of two counts of indecent assault on a 13-year-old girl, was charged
with indecently assaulted another girl. Her age was not given in court
but she was under 16 at the time of the alleged offence.
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- Stevens, who was the family liaison officer to the Chapman
family, was also charged with two new child porn offences.
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- His court appearance lasted just five minutes. He smiled
to reporters as he entered the court, wearing a dark blue single-breasted
suit and blue tie.
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- He spoke only to give his name and date of birth and
was almost inaudible as he muttered, "No plea" to the charges.
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- The father-of-two from March in Cambridgeshire was assigned
to the Chapman family after Jessica and her school friend Holly Wells went
missing.
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- At the time, he was said to have become "the rock"
they leaned on.
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- He even read out a poem at a memorial service for the
girls' and represented the family when Ian Huntley, 28, made his first
appearance at Peterborough magistrates court charged with their murder.
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- Yesterday the case against him was adjourned until January
3. Conditional bail was extended.
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- In addition to the assault charges, he also faces five
counts of possessing child pornography, two of distributing child porn
and one of incitement to distribute child porn.
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- PC Tony Goodridge from Ely, Cambs, who was involved in
the Soham inquiry as an exhibits officer, also appeared at the magistrates
court in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, yesterday.
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- The father-of-two, 34, hid his face in his hands as he
left the court.
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- He is charged with 16 child porn offences. The case was
adjourned for a week after his lawyer Kevin McCarthy asked to see prosecution
documents.
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- Stevens and Goodridge are staying at undisclosed addresses
outside Cambridgeshire. Shortly after the hearings they were driven away
together by another man, thought to be a police colleague.
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- Jessica and Holly disappeared from their homes in Soham
on August 4. Their bodies were found in a ditch near RAF Lakenheath in
Suffolk 13 days later.
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- The officers were arrested as part of Operation Ore,
in which UK police have been targeting alleged users of pay-per-view websites
in the US.
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- Cambridgeshire Police became aware of the allegations
and asked West Midlands Police to carry out an independent investigation
under the direction of the Police Complaints Authority.
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- http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12397540&meth
od=full&siteid=50143
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