A volunteer Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a child.
James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, groomed one of his two victims online before sexually assaulting her when she was just 12 years old.
A trial at Amersham Law Courts heard the officer sexually assaulted the girl in public shortly before her 13th birthday and was forced to pull his trousers up after a dog walker went past him.
Jurors were told Bubb was violent towards the girl when he raped and sexually abused her in her early teens – with the victim telling police he choked and punched her.
The 27-year-old defendant was also found guilty of raping a woman he met online while posing as a 16-year-old girl.
On Thursday, in relation to one complainant, Bubb was found guilty of one count of raping a child under 13, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and one count of assault by penetration.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child in relation to that complainant, and found guilty of one count of rape against another complainant.
All charges took place between January 1 2018 and April 2 2024.
Bubb, who wore a black cardigan, glasses, and cream shirt, made no expression as the verdicts were read out but sobbed with their head in their hands after the foreman finished speaking.
Judge Jonathan Cooper told jurors: “This has been a very challenging case, I’m sure, for you as individuals.”
He said he tells every jury not to speak about the case outside the jury room, but added: “I recognise that’s a very big ask when dealing with counts that would be very, very difficult to hear.
“In this case you heard a range of things that may have been familiar to you, that may have been unfamiliar to you, and may have been unwanted.”
Jurors reached verdicts after deliberating for six hours and 32 minutes.
The court heard Bubb met his first victim on chat roulette site Omegle in 2018 before meeting in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later.
The girl said the defendant looked “paranoid” when he was with her, and she was being “hidden” when they were in public together – telling police her festival colour-coded child wristband was clearly on show.
Bubb’s first victim also said the defendant spoke “a lot about the powers he had” in his role with the Met as a special constable.
The court also heard the officer raped his second victim, a woman he met when she had just turned 18, while he was in an on-off relationship with her between January 2018 and February 2023.
The victim said Bubb used “BDSM and kink as a way of creating control” over her.
She said the defendant would “use police training techniques” on her , telling police: “The control, the power he got. It sure as hell wasn’t consensual.”
Bubb, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, will be sentenced at a date that the court has yet to set.
Detective Constable Kirsty Pendle, from Thames Valley Police, said officers “keep an open mind as to any other offending committed by this defendant” and described Bubb as “a dangerous, predatory sex offender”.
The investigating officer added in the statement: “The abuse inflicted on the victims by the defendant was appalling, therefore I am pleased the jury has convicted the defendant of a number of offences on the indictment.
“I would like to commend the courage and bravery shown by the victims in coming forward and reporting these crimes and their strength throughout this investigation and court proceedings.
“This case demonstrates that Thames Valley Police takes reports of sexual offences extremely seriously.”
Anyone with information about Bubb is asked to contact the force quoting the investigation name Operation Aspect.
After the verdict, a spokesperson for the NSPCC child protection charity said: “As a special constable, Bubb should have been someone who could be relied on to keep children safe.
“It is now vital that both the victims in this disturbing case receive all the support they need to move forwards with their lives.
“Bubb’s actions also highlight once again how tech companies need to be doing much more to make their platforms safe spaces for children and young people when they go online.”
