His grievance was turned over to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Gareth reported Patrick for misconduct to the Sussex Police Professional Standards Department that same day. “I realised that we couldn’t go back to being PC Patrick and Gareth working on the case, because this conversation happened and he sent me pictures of his c**k.” ‘I’m not even allowed to take ownership of my own experience’ He was hesitant, wary of outing the officer. Gareth texted Patrick to ask that he did not attend their meeting, and sexual abuse support groups and friends urged Gareth to report him. “As soon as the chat finished my head kind of exploded,” Gareth said. Gareth says that he suggested Patrick block him to erase the messages. He felt obliged to agree, given that Patrick was the investigating officer in his rape case.Įventually, the conversation ended after Patrick realised their exchanges might be picked up if other officers scanned his phone. He claims Patrick told him the sex would help him heal and regain his sex drive. He encouraged him to send explicit photographs, and Gareth says the two agreed to meet for sex the following morning. (Getty)Īccording to Gareth, Patrick began telling him that every time he’d been to his house, “he’d fantasised about having sex with me”. “But in the space I was in, I was vulnerable. “Now if I was to have this interaction, it would say it was,” Gareth continued.
