Police officer jailed for child sex offence

Daniel Cookson (30), who worked in Rotherham, was found unanimously guilty today by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for ten years.

Cookson, of Dickens Road, Worksop, was arrested in November 2013 after the girl’s parents saw inappropriate text messages from him on their daughter’s phone and reported it to police.

An investigation found he had sent a number of messages to the girl between March and November 2013 pressurising her to send naked pictures

He was suspended from his position in the force when he was arrested and was charged in August 2014.

A misconduct investigation will be considered by the force’s professional standards department now that criminal proceedings have concluded.

Detective Supt Terry Mann, head of the force’s Professional Standards Department, said: “Members of the public quite rightly expect higher standards and behaviour from our officers and staff and anyone who is found to have fallen short of those standards and be suspected of committing a crime will be thoroughly and professionally investigated.

"We expects staff to act with integrity and professionalism to ensure people receive a high quality service and have a police service they can be proud of.”