A DETECTIVE who sent photographs of his penis to women is the third officer from the same police station to face allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour in recent months.

A disciplinary panel heard how Damien Cotgreave committed gross misconduct while working in a unit tackling organised crime and drugs based at Hastings police station.

He resigned from his position at Sussex Police and has been barred from ever serving again.

It comes after Hastings-based police sergeant Rob Adams put the face of a female colleague on a pornographic image of a naked woman.

While Hastings detective Paul Elrick pinged a ruler across the bottom of a female colleague.

Both officers had charges against them found proven late last year and were given final warnings.

The Argus: Damien Cotgreave would have been sacked if he hadn't resigned firstDamien Cotgreave would have been sacked if he hadn't resigned first

A hearing was told how Mr Cotgreave contacted 12 women - all members of the public - on social media while on duty.

He sent texts to ask them about their sexual preferences and whether they enjoyed oral sex.

The married officer also sent explicit pornographic selfies to at least six women while on duty.

READ MORE: 'Schoolboy' detective's final warning over 'pinging' woman PC's buttocks with ruler

A disciplinary panel heard how he even bunked off work for two hours to visit one woman at her home and give her an intimate back massage under her clothes.

On other occasions he sent the unnamed women pornographic selfies of himself taken while he was on duty.

In one he took a lewd photo of himself in a crown court toilet while he was attending a drugs trial.

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Yesterday, 18 out of 20 charges of gross misconduct charges for behaviour between December 2019 to February 2020 were proven.

He could have been sacked by Sussex Police but the panel was told Mr Cotgreave had already resigned from the force.

Instead they barred him from ever serving as an officer again.

Nicola Talbot-Hadley, chair of the panel, said that although no-one came to any harm as a result and the messages were exchanged between consenting adults his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

She said: “Any misconduct involving sexual impropriety undermines public trust in the profession and is particularly serious.”