A former police officer accused of kissing a woman and “repeatedly” touching her bottom at a police station has appeared in court charged with sexual assault.
Jonathan McLeod, 37, served with Essex Police as an inspector based in Basildon before he resigned from the force in March this year.
The defendant, of Leigh, appeared at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he indicated that he would deny four counts of sexual assault.
The charges all concern the same alleged victim, a woman who court papers say is aged 16 or over.
One of the allegations is that McLeod touched the woman’s bottom “on repeated occasions” at Basildon police station when she did not consent.
The other three allegations are of kissing the woman when she did not consent, with two of the counts said to have happened at Basildon police station and the other at a Tesco car park in the town.
The alleged offences are said to have happened between January 2016 and December 2018.
McLeod did not formally enter pleas and was bailed to appear before Ipswich Crown Court for a plea hearing on October 8
McLeod resigned from Essex Police to go and work for South Western Railway in March 2020 as their Crime Manager even though he was still being investigated for the sex offences. Did he tell his new bosses?