PC spared jail after sexually touching victims

A trainee police officer found guilty of sexually touching two women on a night out has been sentenced.

Charlie Valente, 24, from Leeds, was given a two-year community order with 200 hours unpaid work at Leeds Crown Court.

The West Yorkshire Police student officer was found guilty in May of three counts of sexual touching following an incident in November 2022.

The force said Valente had been suspended from duty pending a misconduct hearing.

Passing sentence Judge Andrew Stubbs told Valente: "You were drunk, boorish and believed you were untouchable as a sexual predator. You felt in a position to dominate the victims.

"One of the victims was so drunk she did not know what was happening, but you continued even when she showed she was not interested.

"During the trial, one of the victims described the impact of your actions on her personal life that she has been having to rebuild because of what you did to her, so these are serious offences."

He told Valente that he "may seem sorry now, but he didn't seem sorry for what he did" during his trial.

However, he noted that Valente had "matured considerably from the drunken 22-year-old he was" at the time of the incident.

As well as the community order, he was told he would have to carry out a 90-day alcohol rehabilitation programme and 20-day rehabilitation programme.

He was also ordered to pay £8,000 towards the cost of the case.

Speaking after Valente was found guilty, Det Ch Supt Tanya Wilkins said: "What was reported to the police by the first victim was a pattern of behaviour by this student officer over the course of a night out that has made her extremely uncomfortable, including unwanted sexual touching.

"As part of our enquiries, we reviewed CCTV and established that there was also a second potential victim.

"She was identified and spoken to and again confirmed that she had not consented to the sexual touching she was subjected to."

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