A 61-year-old former Kent Police officer has gone on trial accused of the sexual exploitation of a vulnerable teenager.

Mark Lindow – known on social media as BritishBobby50 – has denied charges of rape which are alleged to have taken place last year.

A second man, Kurt Baker, 39, is also on trial at Maidstone Crown Court accused of raping the same victim three times.

Today the jury heard that between 2001 and 2015 Lindow was employed as a policeman and received training in "community awareness", "personal responsibility", "respect for race and diversity" and "community and customer focus".

The court was closed to the public for a second time as three brief videos of the alleged rapes were shown to the jury which had been warned they were "extremely graphic".

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson told the jury the youngster had been the victim of child sexual exploitation at the hands of individuals who have not been identified.

"She was groomed into sending indecent photographs of herself to these individuals," he said. "Following this, the teenager was blackmailed into performing sexual acts.

"She was required to download an application onto her mobile telephone through which the blackmailers could access her device, and they used this to further their blackmail."

Lindow, of Grasmere Gardens, Folkestone, has denied the rape charges, distributing illegal pictures and inciting child exploitation. He admitted two charges of making indecent photographs.

Baker, of Pankhurst Place, Gravesend, has denied the three rape allegations.

Mr Stevenson claimed that Lindow "appeared to have had some knowledge" that the child was being blackmailed.

"The prosecution case is that she encountered Lindow through the social media platform Kik," he said.

"He made her engage in sexual activity with him on four separate occasions and made her do things that she did not want to do."

He alleged: "He hit her and treated her as his sexual object, referring to her as a slave."

The incident emerged in August when a member of the public saw the distressed teenager walking into water in Chatham and called police.

"She reported that she was being blackmailed by a male who had threatened to come to her house to rape and kill her family," it was claimed.

The alleged victim said that on another occasion a 59-year-old called 'Bobby' had sex with her on several occasions.

"She said that on one occasion 'Bobby' had brought a male friend with him and they both had sex with her and filmed each other having sex with her," the prosecutor added.

The court heard that they met at Travelodge Medway on a number of occasions.

It was claimed that Lindow, who had left the force at this stage, used derogatory terms towards the victim and made her call him 'daddy'.

Lindow's internet searches were read to the jury and included the word 'daddy' and references to young women and schoolgirls.

After a public appeal Baker was identified by his distinctive tattoos and when he was questioned he is alleged to have replied: “You think I raped her. I hope you can sleep well tonight because you’re sending an innocent man to prison.

"I hope you joined the police for the right reasons. She got in the car willingly. I thought she consented. What was I supposed to do? Ask her?”

Mr Stevenson said Baker has a profile on a website, on which he provides a photograph of himself as well as his correct age, which indicates he is looking for "a sub" and "a slave".

The trial continues.

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