A police officer has admitted sending an obscene picture of himself on his mobile phone to an underage girl he met on a dating site.
Anthony Fellows, 27, resigned as a police constable after a complaint was made about the sex text.
The matter came to light after police were contacted by a man claiming an officer had sent an indecent image of himself to an underage girl, called Gemma.
He was arrested and admitted in interview that following the breakdown of a four year relationship he had started using dating websites.
Fellows, from Staffs., began talking to a woman called Lucy, who introduced her to ‘Gemma’ – who he later believed to be the same person.
At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, the former West Midlands Police officer pleaded guilty to improper use of the electronic communications network.
He was conditionally discharged for two years and ordered to pay £135 costs.
Judge Richard Bond told the former cop it was “not the sort of behaviour you would expect from a serving police officer.
“The consequences of this offence are quite extreme in your case.
“I accept when you sent the image you did not have a cool head.
“I accept that you were trying to impress somebody of the opposite sex.
“You are a man of previous good character who, before this aberration, I presume, served the community well.”
Harpreet Sandhu, defending, claimed the man who contacted the police had a previous conviction for blackmail and that the person Fellows had been communicating with had encouraged him to send the picture.
He said Fellows had resigned from the police and his “moment of stupidity” had caused great upheaval in his life.
Mr Sandhu added that the defendant had originally faced a more serious charge, which the prosecution were no longer proceeding with.
