A former Metropolitan Police officer who installed secret cameras to create indecent images and footage of a little girl has been spared jail. Lee Hargrave, 49, of Egham, received a 13-month sentence suspended for two years after admitting voyeurism and making indecent images.
The original charges included allegations of sexual assault of a child under 13 and sexual activity with a child, both in relation to the same victim, plus one count of possessing an extreme image.
Hargrave was hauled to court after a 2023 investigation which found evidence he had installed a camera in the bedroom and bathroom of the victim, who was aged between 12 and 15 at the time, and created indecent images and footage.
On Wednesday (July 2) at Guildford Crown Court, Hargrave was sentenced to 13 months for voyeurism and three months for indecent images of children, both suspended for two years. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and an indefinite Restraining Order against the victim and her family.
Hargrave resigned from the Metropolitan Police in August 2024. An accelerated misconduct hearing that same month found he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving.
He has been added to the Barred List, which prevents him from being employed by police, local policing bodies, the Independent Office for Police Conduct or His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
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