Scotland Yard has ordered a neighbouring police force to reopen its investigation into a predatory officer who escaped justice despite grooming five girls as young as 11 around the world for sex.
PC Sonny Pooni, 33, used social media apps Amino, Discord, WhatsApp and Telegram to text children he knew or believed to be under 18 in the UK, US, Japan and Bulgaria.
Metropolitan Police Commander Paul Brogden, who chaired a disciplinary panel, said the volume of communication against Pooni they examined was “extraordinary” consisting of 106,987 pages in 169 chats.
In a highly unusual move, he “formally requested” Surrey Police revisit Pooni’s conduct “as a matter of urgency” after finding him guilty of discreditable conduct.
But a spokesman for the Surrey force said despite a thorough investigation, there had been insufficient evidence to take the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision. The allegations have since been filed.
Child A, then 14, bravely gathered evidence from other victims and reported Pooni to the NSPCC after he suggested kissing her on the lips and asked about breast milk, the gross misconduct hearing heard on June 27.
Another girl, Child B, was sent a photo of Pooni in uniform and a montage of police cars on her 17th birthday.
When her mother found out, he apologised for upsetting her, saying: “I am really sorry for what happened.”
Pooni - who claimed to be 19 - thought 15-year-old Child C was 12 when he started communicating with her.
After being corrected about her age, he responded: “Damn I got a loli” – meaning “Lolita” a phrase used to describe a sexually precocious underage girl.
Pooni sent Child D, from Bulgaria, three payments via PayPal despite him believing she was only 14.
He forwarded a picture in his Met uniform and expressed his wish to have sex and make out with her.
Japanese victim, Child E, sent him a photo in school uniform and talked about her studies.
Pooni informed the youngster, determined by the panel to be under 18-years-old, that he wanted to see her without clothes, have sex and cuddle her.
Seeing snaps of her in and out of underwear, he remarks: “Cute girl. Very lucky to have a cute girlfriend”.
Pooni resigned from the Met in February 2023 on unrelated performance matters.
But would have been dismissed for breaches of professional standards.
Cmdr Brogden said: “The panel are formally requesting that Surrey Police revisit this as a matter of urgency, bearing in mind the weight of evidence they had heard that consisted of approximately 107,000 pages of communications across 169 separate chatrooms or groups and the evidence that includes some admissions made by Pooni.”
Pooni was a probationer when Child A reported his activities in December 2020.
Cmdr Brogden said: “There is a clear pattern of behaviour in which Pooni uses his position as a police officer to gain the trust of the children.
“The panel found that the officer acted with malign intent. His actions were deliberate, pre-planned and predatory. He deliberately targeted children.”
His acts caused “severe harm” and was “both traumatising and upsetting” Cmdr Brogden said, adding the “scale of depth” of Pooni’s conduct would further cause national concern about officers “misrepresenting themselves to falsely gain the confidence of the most vulnerable in our society”.
“Pooni faced multiple proven allegations and breaches, and he had the temerity to often blame the children themselves for his callous and calculated actions,” he said.
The disgraced officer has been put on the College of Policing barred list and will never work in policing again.
Surrey Police said: “A 28-year-old man was arrested in December 2020 in connection with allegations of online child sex offences.
“These were thoroughly investigated, and all lines of enquiry were pursued.
“There was insufficient evidence to take the matter to the CPS for a charging decision, and the allegations have since been filed.
“The victims were made aware of this outcome at the time.”
The Met declined to comment further.
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