Woman says police officer took advantage when she was ‘vulnerable’
Giving evidence from behind screens, the woman claimed ‘a line was crossed’ when the police officer ‘placed his hand’ on hers.
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A woman has told a court a police officer took advantage of her when she was “drunk and vulnerable” and denied that he froze after she initiated sex.
A jury at Chester Crown Court was shown body worn footage of Jordan Masterson, 28, arriving at the home of the woman, referred to in court as female G, in the early hours of December 28 2021 after she called 999 to report a disturbance.
The complainant can initially be seen crying in the video, which is turned off by Masterson while the two stand in the kitchen of the home.
Giving evidence from behind screens on Wednesday, the woman said she had been drunk and her memory of the time was “hazy”.
She said: “How does this happen? How do you call the police and he ends up taking advantage of you when you’re drunk and vulnerable?”
She said she remembered Masterson placing his hand on hers as she leant on the kitchen counter.
She said: “I just instantly knew a line had been crossed. I instantly knew this wasn’t right, it just didn’t feel right.”
She said her next memory was being completely undressed on the couch in her living room, while Masterson was still clothed.
Vanessa Thomson, defending, said Masterson’s account was that the woman indicated he should turn his body worn camera off and she touched his hand, but he pulled away and told her to sit on the sofa.
The court heard Masterson said the woman put her legs on him when he sat next to her on the sofa and then tried to kiss him, before leaving the room when he pushed her off and returning naked.
The woman said: “Absolutely not.”
Ms Thomson said Masterson claimed he resisted the woman as she began kissing him and trying to pull his police vest off but then “froze” as she pulled him towards the sofa and they then had sex.
The barrister said: “Throughout all of this he just froze, he didn’t engage in it at all.”
The woman said: “Not one thing of that happened, no.”
She accepted when she rang the police later that morning, after Masterson had been to her home a second time, she used the word “rape”, although she later said she had wanted sex.
She said: “That’s the word to describe how I felt. I felt completely violated.”
She added: “I was absolutely terrified. This is a police officer, I had to be so careful.
“You can’t throw the word rape around like it’s nothing but the violation I felt, it wasn’t sex. I don’t even know what word to use. It wasn’t sex, it was just disgusting. It was a complete and utter violation of me in my home.”
Masterson, of Clubmoor, Liverpool, was serving as a Cheshire Constabulary police constable based in Widnes police station at the time.
He denies misconduct in a public office.
The trial, which began on Tuesday, is expected to last seven days.