An anti-terrorism officer has appeared in court after being accused of raping a 14-year-old girl twice, after finding her location on Snapchat maps.
Peter Drummond, 38, is alleged to have travelled more than 800 miles from his home in Three Mile Cross, Berkshire, to Cornwall in order to carry out the act.
He faces three charges of rape and three alternative charges of sexual activity with a child.
The married father is said to have used social media platforms such as Kik, Snapchat and Skype to communicate with the girl.
Fiona Elder, prosecuting, said: “Online he had been supportive as she had anxiety. You may want to think that that support from him online had an ulterior motive.”
The court heard that Mr Drummond met the girl for the first time on the 26th October 2017 when he allegedly raped her in her bedroom, before returning on the 17th November of the same year and climbing through her bedroom window to rape her for a second time.
Mr Drummond has worked in the anti-terrorism department of the Ministry of Defence since 2006.
He denies all charges, but claims that the sex was ‘consensual’ and that he believed the girl was more than 16 years old, the age of consent.
When questioned by defence barrister, Kaja Reiff Musgrove, Mr Drummond claimed that the girl appeared to be “18ish, 17-18 or something like that” on her Kik profile picture.
“After Snapchat we used Skype a few times. She would tell me she had problems with her natural father and because of this she had been self-harming so I was trying to support her and encourage her to speak to her mum about the issues with her dad,” added Mr Drummond.
Mr Drummond then went on to defend his actions by describing the alleged victim as “curvy with the physique of an adult woman”, claimed that she had given him her address and that they were close to “becoming more of an item – a relationship”.
The trial continues.