FOI 1129-2025/26 - Officers arrested for rape/sexual assault

Request:

For the period from 3rd March 2021 to the present date, please provide:

Q1. The total number of serving police officers (including Special Constables) arrested by your force for:

Rape

Sexual Assault

Other Sexual Offences

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) related offences (including Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Harassment).

Q2. For each arrest, please provide:

The specific offence type.

The current status/outcome of the investigation (e.g., Charged, NFA, Internal Disciplinary Only).

The officer's rank and gender.

Refinement Clause (Section 16): If you estimate that providing the full breakdown in Question 2 would exceed the cost limit, I request that you prioritise the data for Question 1 (total numbers and offence types) as a standalone set.

I would appreciate the data in an Excel/CSV format.

Response:

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

Q1. Please see the table below which details the number of North Yorkshire Police Officers who were arrested for offences including Rape including Attempt Rape, Sexual Assault, Other Sexual Offences, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) related offences (including Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Harassment and Controlling and Coercive Behaviour) from 03 March 2021 to 17 February 2026, broken down by rank, offence type and recorded outcome. They are all male.

Further to the above I can confirm that an additional 7 officers are currently under investigation for relevant offences however, further information relating to these allegations is exempt as per the exemption explanation below.

North Yorkshire Police are unable to provide information in relation to ongoing misconduct cases as this is exempt pursuant to Section 31(1)(g)(2)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement.

Section 31(1)(g)(2)(a)(b) - Law Enforcement

Section 31 is a qualified, prejudiced based exemption, I am, therefore, obliged to conduct a harm and
public interest test on the information held.

Harm
To release information whilst an investigation is ongoing and current could potentially undermine the investigation. It is important that public authorities have the space to fully investigate any allegations of improper conduct without fear of any opinions entering the public domain and undermining the investigation.

Factors favouring disclosure
There is a strong public interest in public authorities disclosing information relating to internal Investigations. To disclose information would adhere to the basic principle of being open and transparent.

Factors favouring non-disclosure
To disclose information prematurely, when an investigation into the conduct of an officer is still ongoing could potentially hinder the efficient running of the case. It is important to protect all investigative material to ensure that a full assessment of misconduct allegations can be made.

Balancing Test
In conclusion, I consider that the factors favouring non-disclosure outweigh the factors favouring disclosure and, as such, I will not be disclosing specific information relating to ongoing investigations including information relating to the allegation being investigated. Although disclosure would adhere to the basic principle of being open and transparent, I consider that, when weighed against the risk of prejudicing the efficient running of an investigation, the factors favouring non-disclosure take precedence.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to part of your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.