Met Police detective charged with child sex offences

A SERVING Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with a number of child sex offences following an investigation by Hertfordshire Police.

Detective Constable Francois Olwage, 51, who is attached to Specialist Operations, was arrested at an address in Basingstoke on Thursday, 28 October.

Later the same day, he was charged with the following offences:

• Attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child

• Attempting to cause/incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity

• Arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence

• Meeting a girl under 16 years of age following grooming

DC Olwage was remanded in custody to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court later today (Friday, October 29).

A Met Police spokesman said: "The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed and DC Olwage has been suspended.

"The matter has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct."

Detective Chief Superintendent Donna Smith, Directorate of Professional Standards, said: “The arrest of DC Olwage follows a comprehensive investigation by detectives from Hertfordshire Police and we will continue to offer them every support as their enquiries continue.

“He was suspended following his arrest for this serious and concerning offence. He has been charged and will now face criminal proceedings.

“It is important that nothing is said or published that could pose a risk to those proceedings.”

He is the third Met Police officer to be charged with a sex offence this month and the second this week.

In a separate case, PC Adam Zaman, 28, is accused of raping a woman at the five-star Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street, central London, last Sunday, after meeting her at a Romford pub while off duty and when she was allegedly too drunk to give consent.

Mr Zaman, from Romford, who denies the allegation, has been suspended.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday when he was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned for a plea hearing at the Old Bailey on November 24.

In another unconnected case, on Sunday, October 3, PC David Carrick, 46, from the same Met Police Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit as killer cop Wayne Couzens, was charged with rape and suspended by the Met, in a development Commissioner Cressida Dick described as "deeply concerning."

It is alleged that, while off duty, he raped a woman who he went for drinks with after meeting on Tinder in a St Albans hotel in September 2020. St Albans Magistrates' Court, where he appeared by remote link, heard on October 4 he "emphatically denies" the offence and the case was adjourned to St Albans Crown Court on Monday (November 1.)