The former head of a British police watchdog was charged Friday with indecent assault and raping a girl under the age of 16.
Michael Lockwood, who resigned from his role as Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in December citing “personal” reasons, now faces nine sexual offenses. They include six counts of indecent assault and three of rape against the girl, with the offenses allegedly taking place in the mid-1980s, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.
“After carefully considering all of the evidence provided to us by Humberside Police, we have [authorized] charges against Michael Lockwood, 64, for nine [offenses] under the Sexual Offences Act 1956,” said Rosemary Ainslie, the head of the CPS’ Special Crime Division. The division handles some of the most serious offenses in England and Wales, including criminal allegations against police officers.
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At the time of his resignation in December, Lockwood said he was standing down for “personal and domestic reasons.” British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she had taken “immediate action” upon being made aware that Lockwood was the subject of a criminal investigation “and instructed my officials to ask him to resign or face immediate suspension from his role.”
The IOPC is responsible for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. “We investigate the most serious matters, including deaths following police contact, and set the standards by which the police should handle complaints,” the IOPC says on its website. “We use learning from our work to influence changes in policing. We are independent, and make our decisions entirely independently of the police and government.
Lockwood was the first person to be appointed to head up the IOPC since its formation in 2018 to replace the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Before his tenure as the watchdog’s chief, Lockwood served as the chief executive of a London council and led the recovery and remediation work for families affected by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire—the London apartment building disaster which left 72 people dead.
He is set to appear in court on June 28.
