Soham officer faces porn charges

Brian Stevens arrives at court on Friday

A police family liaison officer involved in the Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells murder investigation has appeared in court on charges child pornography and indecent assault charges.

Detective Constable Brian Stevens, 41, worked with Jessica's family during the inquiry into the alleged abduction and murder of the 10-year-old best friends, from Soham in Cambridgeshire.

Another officer on the case also appeared on charges of possessing 330 indecent photographs of children, at a plea and direction hearing at Ipswich Crown Court, Suffolk.

Pc Antony Goodridge, 34, will be appear again on 28 March.

Mr Stevens, whose case was adjourned for three weeks, faces charges of indecent assault on two girls under the age of 16 between October 1998 and October 2001.

Memorial service

He also faces five counts of having an indecent photograph of a child between January and September 2002 and three of distributing an indecent photograph of a child over the same period.

The officer, who read a poem during the memorial service for Jessica and Holly, was given conditional bail.

Pc Goodridge also faces charges of distributing an indecent photo of a child between June and September 2002 and also possession with a view to the distribution of an indecent photo of a child between the same dates.

The officer was also given conditional bail until his sentencing hearing.