This article does not seem to be available online, so I am posting and transcribing it:
Police officer
claims child
accuser was
the abuser
David Woode Crime Correspondent
A volunteer police officer who allegedly groomed and repeatedly raped a child has claimed in court to have been "abused" by the complainant and "struggled to come forward".
James Bubb, 27, who now lives as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, first met the 12-year-old girl on Omegle, a video-chat service in which users speak to strangers.
The child, who identified as a transgender boy from the age of ten but no longer identifies as male, told Bubb that she was 16.
The jury at Amersham Law Courts has been told Bubb repeatedly raped the child, who cannot be named, and boasted about the "powers" he would gain as a 21-year-old Metropolitan police recruit. Bubb had sex with the child up to 15 times at his flat before the pair ended contact.
Bubb, formerly of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denies rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child and single charges of rape of a child under 13, assault by penetration and assault of a child under 13 by penetration. A not- guilty verdict has been returned for one rape charge after the prosecution offered no evidence. Bubb also denies a charge of rape against a different woman. All the offences allegedly took place between 2018 and last year.
Yesterday Bubb appeared in the witness box dressed in a blue-and-white patterned dress and a black cardigan. During evidence the officer suggested that the child could "flip the switch" and make disparaging remarks about the defendant's gender identity. On one occasion the child said: "[You're] always going to be a man in a dress."
The officer added: "That's not something a caring person would do."
Richard Milne, for the prosecution, asked: "Are you seriously suggesting you were being abused by [the child]?"
The defendant replied: "That was the crux ... I struggled to come forward. I was a serving police officer who worked with domestic abuse officers in the Met. I was older than the person who was abusing me ... Yes, I am saying the child abused me. It's so hard to admit that."
At the start of last year, the officer claimed to have believed the complainant was 22 and studying for a degree apprenticeship but during a video call in January that year she revealed she was in fact 17.
Questioned by Adrian Amer, for the defence, the officer said: "Initially I didn't believe her. I remember being in speechless shock. At no point did their actions or approach [imply] they were under-age. She was extremely skilled at weaving a web of deception."
Asked by Milne if the defendant ever requested the child's proof of age, Bubb said: "Yes, on multiple occasions but because of my ADHD I often forgot her age. I forget these things unless they are written in my phone."
After discovering the child's true age, the officer blocked them online and deleted their number, adding: "I was look- ing forward to getting on with my life."
The trial continues.
