Locations
Allwood Gardens, Bartley Green, Birmingham, B32
Description
A former police officer has been jailed for more than seven years for sexual offences against a vulnerable 13-year-old girl he met online.
Haider Siddique, 22, was arrested after a bus driver spotted him acting inappropriately in March last year.
He had joined West Midlands Police in 2021 as a student officer and the force called his offences "sickening".
The NSPCC said his "targeted grooming and sexual abuse of a vulnerable girl was a terrible breach of trust".
It added: "Having undertaken training to become a police officer, Siddique should have known the devastating impact child sexual abuse can have on the victims."
It also commended the bus driver for speaking up.
At Birmingham Crown Court in January, Siddique pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child, and resigned while in custody.
The force said an expedited misconduct hearing was held in private after his guilty plea and he would have been dismissed if he had not resigned.
It also said he had never been deployed in an operational role.
Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green said: "This was a sickening criminal act by a former student officer and I know his fellow officers will be repulsed by his behaviour."
As well as his prison sentence, Siddique will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.
He is also subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from internet contact with anyone under 16 and barring any unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, unless their parents are aware of the offences.