A detective working with victims of sexual assault flirted with a woman on Facebook even after she'd confided in him she was the victim of an attempted rape, it has been alleged.

Det Sgt Jonathan Pearce has been accused of gross misconduct during an ongoing hearing at Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone.

He denied his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

A panel was told Det Sgt Pearce and the woman started messaging in September 2019 after he commented on one of her posts in a Facebook group.

The officer told the hearing he later noticed a friend suggestion pop up while scrolling through the site. He said he initially thought it was a friend of his daughter's and started talking to her.

Counsel for Kent Police, David Mesling, told the panel Det Sgt Pearce told her he was a police officer.

They had been messaging for about a month when on October 11 she told him she had been a victim of an attempted rape.

Det Sgt Pearce said the woman had "begged" him not to report it.

Giving evidence, he said in the days which followed, he repeatedly tried to convince her to go to the police but promised he would not report it.

He conceded a sense of "misguided loyalty" to not betray her trust stopped him from acting on the information himself. Kent Police and Home Office policing policies state any sexual offences disclosed to a police officer must be reported.

"It was the worst decision of my professional life," Det Sgt Pearce said. "I should've reported it and it was my duty to report it.

"I didn't have my police hat on. I wasn't thinking as a detective. I've let everyone down and I'm so sorry."

The woman reported the attempted rape herself after a domestic violence incident led to police being called to her home less than a week later.

Evidence was heard about several exchanges between Det Sgt Pearce and the woman.

Det Sgt Pearce said: "We messaged and talked and she felt more like my daughter as we went on."

Questioning Det Sgt Pearce, Mr Mesling said the messages appeared more "flirtatious" when the officer said she looked "lovely". On another occasion that he would have asked her out if he was "20 years younger" when she told him she felt like nobody liked her.

A later message read to the hearing revealed when she asked if the officer "wanted" her, Det Sgt Pearce replied: "Maybe a little bit."

The officer denied the messages had a sexual context.

The panel was told that when interviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the woman said she had not found Det Sgt Pearce's "too flirty".

Det Sgt Pearce said the message about asking her out was supposed to raise her spirits and the other message about "wanting" her, he took to mean as friends rather than in a sexual way.

"I never had any intention of a sexual relationship with her. I told her I was a police officer, had a partner and children," Det Sgt Pearce said.

But Mr Mesling said it was a strange choice of words for someone only interested in a friendship. He also quizzed the police officer about a "topless photo" of himself he sent her.

"I was going to bed early in the morning after a late shift, she asked for a picture of me and that was what I was doing at that time," Det Sgt Pearce replied.

Days after learning about the attack on her, the pair discussed sugar daddies after the woman shared a link to an online news article.

In his reply, Det Sgt Pearce asked what he "would get from it" but in evidence said he never suggested anything explicit.

"I took it as light hearted and said 'as a police officer I'm not doing that'.

Mr Mesling outlined three grounds which he said demonstrated the officer breached professional standards.

These were that Det Sgt Pearce knew the woman was "a victim of crime and continued to enter into a relationship", failing to refer her to safeguarding teams and after being provided with evidence of a crime "failed to secure such evidence in breach of duties and responsibilities".

He joined Kent Police in 2012 in the sexual offences investigation team at North Kent Police Station in Gravesend and at the time of the incident had seven years experience investigating sexual abuse cases and working with victims.

The hearing continues.

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