Disgraced Northampton special police constable sent to prison for attempting to send nude photos to child

A Northamptonshire Police special constable has lost his “childhood dream” job and been sent to prison after attempting to engage in sexual communication with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.

Steven Tift, aged 45, formerly of Church Walk in Northampton, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, May 4 after being convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences date back to November 2021 when Tift began speaking with an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on the dating app, Grindr.

The court heard that the conversation then moved to Snapchat and, on three occasions, Tift sent sexual pictures and requested some in return after the officer claimed he was 14.

Henry James, prosecuting, told the court: “His account was, in fact, that he thought 14 referred to the size of the penis rather than the age.”

Following an investigation by Northamptonshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit (OCAIU) , Tift was identified as the offender and arrested at his home address on December 19, 2021.

Tift pleaded not guilty to the sex offences but a jury convicted him after a trial, which ended on March 18, 2023.

Nathalie Carter, in mitigation, said this was an isolated incident and Tift, who is of previous good character, did not seek to speak to a child as he was on an adult-only site and police found no other chats with children on his phone.

The barrister added: “He lost his position as a special constable which he very much cherished and was a childhood dream of his.”

His Honour Judge Mayo DL, sentencing, said: “You tried to maintain that you were seeking validation because of a lack of sexual contact with your partner. I don’t accept that for one moment. This was seeking out sexual gratification from someone you believed to be a prepubescent boy.”

Judge Mayo added that Tift’s diagnosis of ADHD had a low impact on his offending and told the defendant that he should not use his condition as a “prop” or an “excuse” for his offences.

Tift was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed for five years and he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Detective Inspector Matt Haworth, said he is pleased with this outcome.

He added: “Tift’s position as a Special Constable placed him in a position of trust which he grossly abused when he sought to use the internet to abuse a child. Thankfully in this case, the child in question was actually a police officer and we were able to take swift action to arrest him.

“I hope this case reassures the public that we work proactively at Northamptonshire Police to bring people like Tift to justice regardless of who they are or what roles they hold. As an organisation, we are determined to identify those who commit wrongdoing and who are not fit to serve the public and we will be relentless in our pursuit of them.

“We will continue working hard to keep our children in Northamptonshire safe and to bring anyone who threatens that safety to justice.”