Met Detective Who Was Jailed For Trying To Meet With 13-Year-Old Girl For Sex Removed From Force

A 52-year-old Met Police detective who tried to meet up for sex with what he thought was a teen girl and was jailed for it, has been removed from the force.

Francois Olwage had planned to meet the 13-year-old at a flat in Basingstoke, England while he was on duty. Prior to the meeting, he had spent two weeks grooming her via private online messages. But when he headed out to meet the teenager, he found that the person he was messaging was actually an undercover cop, reported Daily Mail. He was arrested when he went to meet the teenager on Oct. 28 last year. It was the date when he was listed as "on duty working from home." When officers arrested him, he was found carrying condoms, lubricant and a drug that was like Viagra.

Later, he claimed that he did not believe the person he was messaging was a teenager. He thought that it was a woman playing out an online fantasy which he indulged. Olwage also denied that the arranged meeting would involve any kind of sexual activity.

Following a Met Police misconduct hearing in Fulham, London, Olwage, who worked as a Detective Constable for the force's counter terrorism unit, was dismissed without notice.

At the Winchester Crown Court earlier this month, he was found guilty of three child sex offences. Judge Jane Miller QC jailed him for five-and-a-half years. Miller QC said that as a police officer, his "conduct should have been expected to be of impeccable standards." She added that by intending to take sexual advantage of a child, he showed "total disregard for your office."

A misconduct investigation was run by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS). It found that he breached the Standards of Professional Behavior in relation to discreditable conduct, reported Evening Standard.

Detective Chief Superintendent Donna Smith, from the DPS, said that Olwage’s conduct was proven to have brought the police service into "disrepute and has damaged the trust and confidence the public should rightly be able to have in their police service." She noted that it is simply "an unforgivable breach of trust," according to Yahoo! News.