A High Court judge has told a former Christchurch police officer convicted of sexual assault, corruption and bribery that his behaviour was sleazy, if not pathetic.
Gordon Meyer, a senior constable who has resigned from the force, was sentenced to nine months' home detention on Thursday.
Gordon Meyer. Photo: SUPPLIED
In November this year, he admitted one charge of corruption and bribery and one count of indecent assault in relation to two women he sought sexual favours from in 2011.
Justice Panckhurst said a jail term would have meant Meyer would have to have been kept in isolation for his own safety.
He sentenced him to two concurrent sentences of nine months at an undisclosed address in the North Island and ordered that he pay $3000 each to his two victims.
The judge said Meyer was supposed to be someone people could trust, but instead turned out to be a predator. He told Meyer he was struck by the content of the victim impact statements which he read to the court.
The corruption charge related to an offer from Meyer to waive a charge of drink-driving in exchange for oral sex in a patrol car.
Crown prosecutor Pip Currie told the court the two women had been assaulted by a man who, as a police officer, they had been taught to trust.
Defence lawyer Jonathan Eaton told the court that Meyer had made an unreserved apology to the women and his reputation is in tatters.
"After 19 years of loyal, committed service as a front-line police officer, it is undoubtedly the case that the defendant has completed an extraordinary fall from grace. Associated with that, of course, is a complete and utter public humiliation with much vilification," he said.
