Former Wiltshire Police officer pleads guilty to child sex offence
44-year-old Barry Geering from Ealing was arrested last month
Last updated 14th May 2025
A former Wiltshire Police officer, who has been charged with a child sex offence, has now pleaded guilty.
44-year-old Barry Geering from Ealing was arrested last month, and was accused of trying to engage in sexual communication with a child.
He's now pleaded guilty following the investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU).
Geering who was a police constable at Wiltshire Police at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child under 16 at Bristol Magistrates’ Court this morning (13 May).
Geering was arrested in April 2024 as part of a proactive operation by a team at SWROCU, who work alongside a national network of officers tackling offences online, including child sexual abuse and exploitation.
He was immediately suspended from duty and resigned from the force two months later.
Wiltshire Police’s Professional Standards Department are carrying out a separate investigation into potential breaches of standards of professional behaviour - this is an internal process separate to the criminal investigation.
Detective Inspector David Wells from the Online Investigations Team at SWROCU said: “Barry Geering was arrested for communicating online with who he thought was a child over several days.
“As a police officer at the time, his role was to protect people, but instead he looked to exploit a child by engaging in sexual communication on Snapchat.
“Our team is dedicated to targeting people intent on exploiting children online and preventing the harm such offences cause.”
Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper said: “I have no doubt that our communities will be rightly appalled by the actions of this former officer.
“Our core priority as police officers is to protect those most vulnerable and yet Geering purposefully sought to exploit a child for his own sexual gratification.
“His actions and behaviour are simply incompatible with those expected of our officers, staff and volunteers. As soon as we were made aware of this matter, he was immediately suspended.
“Now Geering has admitted this offence, we will look to accelerate our misconduct process in this case. We will keep our communities informed of the outcome of this.”
He is due to be sentenced at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 23 June.