Police officer dismissed by force after child images conviction

Lee Lucas (39) was dismissed by the force’s chief constable at a hearing today after he admitted in court to eight counts of possessing indecent images of children between January 2008 and December 2013.

Lucas, of Prince of Wales Road, Sheffield, also admitted to misconduct in a public office between November 2012 and September 2013 at his Sheffield Crown Court appearance on October 5.

Lucas was a police constable who was formally based at Rotherham’s Main Street Police Station.

His crimes came to light following the launch of Operation Pigeon, an investigation exploring whether any officers were abusing their position by contacting vulnerable members of the public.

The investigation identified that Lucas had excessive and unexplained contact with eight women during 2013 while on duty. 

The women were vulnerable members of the public who had contacted the police in relation to various incidents including harassment, domestic abuse and other crime.

During an internal investigation into these matters, Lucas’ home was searched and his computer hard drive was seized.

When police examined it, around 1,400 indecent images of children were discovered. 

He was suspended from his post in December 2013. 

Today, Lucas was dismissed from the force at a special case hearing, which he did not attend, by South Yorkshire Police chief constable David Crompton.

He will be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on December 21 for his crimes and has been ordered to sign the sex offenders' register.

The chief const said: “I hope this demonstrates that we are determined to uphold high standards of behaviour in the force.”

Operation Pigeon, which was supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, was established by South Yorkshire Police following concerns raised nationally about officers abusing their positions to contact vulnerable people. 

As well as Lucas, two other South Yorkshire Police officers were identified as having inappropriate contact with vulnerable members of the public. 

They were dismissed from the force following misconduct hearings.