Former Merseyside Police Constable Carl Edwards, 37, has been jailed for 15 months for misconduct in a public office after he offered sex workers money for a threesome and told an at-risk teenage girl she was his "Christmas present" while rubbing her leg.
Edwards, of Sunflower Close in Upton, was dismissed from the force and sentenced at Chester Crown Court on October 5. He had been convicted in July of three counts of misconduct in a public office and two data protection offences.
Abuse of trust during routine assessment
Edwards was called to a property to carry out a routine assessment after an extremely vulnerable teenage girl, who had been reported missing, returned home. He spent an hour and a half alone in her room, where he made sexual comments, offered her drags on his vape, and called her his "Christmas present".
The court heard he sat on her bed while she sat under the covers wearing just a dressing gown. When she indicated she had been wearing a red corset, he replied he would love to see her in it and to see her naked. He told her he was aroused and rubbed her leg through the duvet.
The teenager was said to have been in hysterics and, in a victim impact statement, told the court she no longer felt safe leaving home and would forever struggle to trust the police in the future.
Pattern of targeting sex workers
Edwards visited the Sheil Road area of Kensington between June 2022 and December 2023, with sex workers reporting a man called "Carl" regularly attended the area. One vulnerable woman, addicted to class A drugs, reported that Edwards stopped her and asked how much to do "business" while in uniform and driving a marked car.
He asked how he would pay her, stroked her hand and called her gorgeous, before giving her his name and number. He later attended her home but got cold feet because of CCTV on her building and concerns that a card payment could be traced back to him.
Two other sex workers flagged Edwards down because one of them had been strangled. He interacted with them for just six seconds before driving around to speak with the suspect, but did not take the man's details or activate his bodycam. He returned and asked them for a threesome, negotiating £50 for each. He returned to the area at least 19 times in the following week.
Sentencing and reaction
Judge Michael Leeming said: "You arranged and sought to exploit an interest in sex workers and with a third vulnerable member of the public, in duty and in uniform. The harm is obvious. The police relationship with the public depends on trust and confidence. You were aware of this."
Edwards was arrested in December 2023 and suspended from duty. He denied wrongdoing, accusing all victims of lying. He had no previous convictions but had a caution for possession of class B drug mephedrone from 2010, which was undeclared when he joined the force.
In mitigation, defending, Henry Hughes said Edwards had come under "sustained attack and abuse simply because he was a police officer and where he lived", and that he and his partner had been approved to foster two children on the morning of his arrest. He said: "It is a tragedy that as a result of this he will never be allowed to foster. He described that as soul destroying and both he and his partner are devastated."
Amanda Rowe, director of engagement at the Independent Office for Police Conduct, said: "When a police officer abuses their position for a sexual purpose, this is a form of corruption - and it has absolutely no place in policing. This was a profound breach of the trust placed in him by both the public and the force."
Detective Chief Superintendent Sabi Kaur, head of Merseyside Police's professional standards unit, added: "In abusing his position of trust with victims of crimes in pursuit of his own gratification, Edwards behaviour was nothing short of abhorrent."
Edwards appeared for a gross misconduct hearing on October 1 and it was found he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned. He was also placed on the College of Policing barred list.
