A former Warwickshire Police special constable Paedophile, Darren O’Connor, has been imprisoned for having more than 1,000 child rape, torture and sexual abuse indecent images. Darren O’Connor kept the pictures on two cell phones.
Following a warrant search at the Coventry house of the ex-Special Inspector in January 2023, West Midlands police detectives discovered the pictures after recovering equipment.
The court heard he had 1,033 photographs total, including 372 in category A, the most severe type. Two cell phones had them on hand.
Darren O’Connor declined to answer in an interview after his detention; he revealed in a November 2023 reinterview that he downloaded the material.
Based at Nuneaton Police Station, Darren O’Connor resigned from his post after his arrest.
He entered a guilty plea to two counts of disseminating an indecent picture of a child and three counts of creating an obscene image of a kid. The crimes took place from August 2021 until January 2023.
Darren O’Connor was imprisoned for eight months at Warwick Crown Court this week, ordered to register the Sex Offenders Register for ten years, and subject to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The force’s accelerated gross misconduct hearing in May concluded that Darren O’Connor would have been sacked had he not resigned earlier for violating standards of professional conduct, particularly discreditable conduct.
Detective Superintendent Paul Thompson, Head of Professional Standards at Warwickshire Police, said: “This wasn’t a one-off event, he was downloading and distributing images over a sustained period. As a serving special constable, Darren O’Connor would have understood his actions were wrong.
He has committed a severe criminal offence. His acts were deliberate, unforced, and unlawful, and morally reprehensible. Darren O’Connor brings the profession into disrepute and damages the confidence the public has in police officers. We welcome this conviction and hope the public can take confidence from this investigation and the commitment of the police to bring these types of offenders to justice.”
Stop It Now is a child protection charity working to prevent child sex abuse. Their confidential service is for anyone with concerns about child sexual abuse and its prevention – whether you’re worried about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour or about another adult or young person.
Safer Lives is a service for people under investigation for offences involving indecent images, sexual communications, voyeurism, or indecent exposure.
The Marie Collins Foundation Services Supporting Families of Child Sexual Abuse Material Offending offers support to help partners or family members of those who have been arrested on suspicion of accessing indecent images of children.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.