Police officer helped women blackmail married man after sexual encounter

A police officer helped women extort money from a man after he had an affair with one of them.

Chloe Wright and Freya Shaw were found to have blackmailed the man in Cowdenbeath, Fife, between May 16 and 17, 2020.

This happened after Shaw, 25, had a sexual encounter with the man.

Wright, 29, and Shaw threatened to tell the man’s girlfriend about the affair.

Steven Charletta, who was a constable at the time, used Police Scotland systems to obtain the girlfriend’s personal details.

The 60-year-old gave the private information to Wright and Shaw.

On the same day, Charletta visited the girlfriend’s house, pretending to be investigating reports of an uninsured individual driving her car.

He said he needed the details of anyone else who might be driving the car and was able to discover the victim’s name, address, and job.

Charletta was also convicted of perverting the course of justice after instructing Wright to delete information from her phone, including messages between them.

“Steven Charletta abused his position as a police officer to access police systems to obtain and provide information that he had no right to do,” said chief superintendent Helen Harrison, of Police Scotland’s professional standards department.

“I’d like to commend the cooperation and strength of the witnesses involved in this case.

“All officers are bound by our Standards of Professional Behaviour, which apply on and off duty.

“Any instance where an officer fails to uphold our standards will be investigated and appropriate action taken.

“As the criminal case has now concluded, this matter will now be considered in terms of the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2014.”