A police constable who carried out “lecherous and predatory” sexual assaults against three colleagues has avoided an immediate custodial sentence.
Alex Trusler, 36, was given a 42-week prison term, suspended for 18 months, on Tuesday.
He stepped down from Staffordshire Police after pleading guilty to four offences in July this year.
Trusler was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years after Northampton Crown Court heard he kissed and touched a woman in workplace settings, and sexually assaulted two women while intoxicated during a social gathering.
The court heard that Cannock-based Trusler, a former prison service worker from Burntwood, laughed after slapping a woman on the bottom and remarked to another victim “this will be our little secret”.
Judge Rebecca Crane was told the disgraced officer, whose wife attended court, has secured a new job and retains “hope in a loving and supportive family”, despite publicity surrounding his offending resulting in him moving house.
Sentencing Trusler for four counts of sexual assault, the judge said: “At the time of these offences you were a serving police officer, having joined Staffordshire Police in January 2020.”
The judge said of the offences admitted by Trusler: “This lecherous and predatory behaviour had an impact on your victims.
“Given you were a serving police officer, there is a wider impact as your behaviour undermines public confidence in the police.”
Trusler’s actions meant he had thrown away a career in public service, the judge said, which included attending a number of traumatic incidents.
Judge Crane also said Trusler had shown a “degree of minimisation” in a pre-sentence report, telling him: “Any suggestion that there was a culture of flirtatious banter is not mitigation – and your behaviour went far beyond that.”
Trusler, who claimed to have no recollection of the offences at the social event, showed no obvious emotion in the dock as he was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work and pay compensation of £600 to each of his victims.
Chris Pembridge, prosecuting, read victim personal statements from two of the women into the court record prior to sentence.
He said of one of the complainants had made it clear she had no interest in the defendant and that she had “never been made to feel so uncomfortable”.
Offering mitigation prior to the sentence, defence barrister Mark Karpinski said Trusler had studied forensic investigation at university, worked in the prison sector with young and adult offenders, and then worked as a community support officer.
“These convictions leave his police career and his life in ruins,” Mr Karpinski told the court.
Trusler has been placed on the College of Policing barred list, the lawyer said, telling the court: “Everything he has ever worked for in the field of criminal justice has been lost and is gone, never to return.”
In a statement issued after the case, Staffordshire Police said Trusler resigned on September 1.
A gross misconduct hearing held last week found that he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.
Stafforshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Caroline Marsh said: “As soon as these allegations were reported, he was suspended from duty, and a thorough investigation was launched by our Anti-Corruption Unit.
“His guilty pleas reflect the seriousness of his offending. There is no place in policing for individuals who abuse their position or engage in this kind of behaviour.
“I would like to thank the victims for the courage they have shown throughout this investigation. We remain committed to taking robust action whenever allegations of this nature are made and will always work to maintain the confidence of the public we serve.”