Judge's fury as former British cop escapes with a caution after groping a cleaner while on bail for another attack

A judge has demanded to know why a former police officer who molested a cleaner escaped with a caution - just three months after he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl.

Gary Cawthorne, 50, groped the 20-year-old woman at his home 12 weeks after he sexually assaulted the 16-year-old girl while posing as a freelance model scout.

Cawthorne told the teenager he worked for top agencies including Select Model Management, representing celebrities including Kelly Brooke and Agyness Deyn.

The sexual predator, who left the police force voluntarily in 1991, then ordered her to strip so he could ‘measure her’ before cupping her breasts.

Cawthorne is facing jail after being convicted of sexual assaulting the teenager at the Grand Hotel in Northumberland Avenue, central London, following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

While on bail he then assaulted the cleaner after paying her £30 for an erotic massage at his home in southeast London and was handed a police caution.

Adjourning sentence until May 17 for reports including an assessment on Cawthorne’s dangerousness, Judge Loraine-Smith said: ‘My view is this man is a potentially a sexual predator. ‘The evidence is he assaulted a young girl having advertised on Gumtree.com. ‘While on bail for that matter, three months later he did something remarkably similar.

‘A young woman aged 20 cleaned his house for several hours and offered him an erotic massage for £30. ‘He paid her the money but he went too far.’

Judge Loraine-Smith also described the decision by Kent Police to caution Cawthorne as ‘extraordinary’, adding: ‘I want an explanation for why it is they decided a caution was a suitable way of dealing with this offence, committed and admitted by someone on bail for something similar.’

Patrick Duffy, defending Cawthorne, said the liaison between him and the cleaner was ‘consensual’ but he chose to accept a caution.

‘He was a Metropolitan Police officer, which didn’t come out during evidence. ‘He was in the force up until 1991 when he left of his own accord to follow other opportunities.’

Cawthorne, who also has a previous conviction for benefit fraud, claimed to have worked for various high profile modelling agencies, and said the fashion brand Gap was among his clients.

The girl initially accompanied a friend who arranged to meet Cawthorne advertising herself as an aspiring model on the website Gumtree.com.

He pretended to have a vast knowledge of the industry and gave the girls the impression he could help them find work.

The girl, who cannot be identified, broke down in tears as she told how she was in ‘shock’ as Cawthorne groped her.

Earlier prosecutor Anita Arora told the jury: ‘This is a case about a man who took advantage of a young and naive girl who put herself in a vulnerable situation.

‘She and a friend put an advert on Gumtree advertising themselves as models. ‘As a result, the friend was contacted by a man called Gary and a meeting was arranged between the two girls and him.’
Cawthorne is facing jail after being convicted of sexual assaulting the teenager following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. While on bail he then assaulted the cleaner after paying her £30 for an erotic massage but was handed a police caution

The girls initially met Cawthorne last April 2 at the hotel to talk about the modelling industry, Ms Arora said. A second meeting was organised two days later, during which the two girls were also accompanied by a third friend.

‘Things took a slightly unusual turn,’ Ms Arora said. ‘He asked to measure the girls for what they would wear at some stage as models.’

Cawthorne and the girl went in a lift for a ‘fitting’, jurors heard. ‘She said she was feeling nervous, she had never done anything like this before. ‘They went in a toilet, not in a room, just her and Gary Cawthorne.

‘He asked if she was ok then asked her to take her clothes off, which she did. ‘He then pulled out a tape measure and started to take measurements including around her breast area and her legs.

‘He was making comments to her about her body and she felt uncomfortable. She was shocked but she carried on.’

Cawthorne then told the girl to take her bra off or the measurement would not be ‘accurate’, jurors heard.

She covered her breasts with both hands and let him measure her. ‘He cupped both breasts with his hands and said there was nothing wrong with them’, Ms Arora told the court.

‘She didn’t ask him to do that. She didn’t agree to that and that, say the prosecution, is a sexual assault.’

The girl initially kept quiet but confided in her mother a few days later, who demanded Cawthorne’s phone number, the jury heard.

‘She decided to make enquiries about whether he was a legitimate model scout. ‘He convinced her he was a professional involved in the field of finding models, effectively a freelance model scout.

‘He maintained he worked for reputable model agencies including Select Model Management in London.

‘She asked him about his clients and he mentioned Gap. She was impressed by how professional he sounded.’

But the girl’s mother became alarmed when Cawthorne told her he had a psychology qualification and was a ‘doctor’ of some sort.

After contacting a modelling agency, who they said they had never heard of Cawthorne, the mother called police, jurors heard.

In a prepared statement, Cawthorne admitted being in contact with the girl and her friend but insisted nothing ‘untoward’ happened, adding: ‘I have no intention of touching someone without their permission.’

Cawthorne, of Plumstead, southeast London, denied sexual assault.

Original report here




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