Former special constable convicted of 22 sexual offences

A former special constable with Northamptonshire Police has been convicted of multiple sex offences.

In 2020, Northamptonshire Police received intelligence regarding potential illegal images of children possessed by 48-year-old Wissem Bonafia.

In August, they attended his address in Barton Seagrave where he was arrested and multiple electronic devices were seized.

Upon inspection, they were found to contain numerous indecent images and videos of various females from prepubescent age up to the age of 17, many of which Bonafia had taken himself.

The offences took place between 2014 and 2019.

Bonafia was arrested and subsequently charged with six counts of raping a woman aged 16 years or over, one count of assault by penetration of an object/thing, six counts of assaulting a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm, five counts of taking an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child, four counts of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child, one count of causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one count of committing an act/series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice.

A trial date was set for February 16, 2026, which saw a further two charges added - one count of rape, and one count of causing/inciting a child to engage in non-sexual activity.

On day one, Bonafia pleaded guilty to six of the offences - five counts of taking an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child and one count of assaulting a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm.

The remaining 21 were taken to trial with the jury hearing the evidence over the course of two weeks.

As the trial progressed, Bonafia pleaded guilty to a further four counts of assaulting a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm.

Today (March 30), Bonafia was found guilty of a further 12 offences.

He was found not guilty of three counts of rape, one of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one of taking an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child.

Lead investigator - Detective Constable Caroline Knight said: “First of all I would like to thank the women in this case for their resilience and patience while our investigation took place. It has taken a long time to bring it to trial and I cannot speak about them highly enough.

“They have shown great bravery in supporting our case and providing their evidence in court, despite experiencing the most heinous of crimes perpetrated by a person who knew what he was doing was wrong.

“They were all vulnerable in their own way and should be proud of what they have done to get it to this point. I want to thank them for staying on board and in times of hesitation, believing in and continuing with the process.

“Without them giving their evidence and remaining stoic in the witness box whilst experiencing thorough cross examination, we would not have had as good a case as we did.

“I also want to thank Jeff Wells from our Digital Forensics Unit. Without his diligence at the beginning of this investigation, we would never have identified these children. Also Michelle Mallison from the same team for providing additional evidence for court and standing in as Jeff’s replacement at the last minute. And retired DI Helena Congreve and my other supervisors, who supported me through the investigation. 

“And finally to our KC Sam Skinner and his colleague Laura Blackband who prosecuted this case marvellously.

“We will now prepare for sentencing, and I hope this case demonstrates our determination to bring those responsible for sexual crimes, no matter who they are, to justice.”

Detective Inspector Lee Jones said: “This has been a really complex investigation with a lot of moving parts, and I am grateful to DC Knight for her diligence, victim care and unwavering determination to bring Wissem Bonafia to justice.

“Bonafia’s crimes are a disgrace to the uniform he once wore, and I hope this investigation and subsequent result at court reassures the wider public that we will do all we can to root out individuals like him.

“We have a lot of brilliant special constables in this force who continue to uphold the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, and for them and their work, we are really grateful.”

Bonafia resigned from special constable duties on November 9, 2021. An accelerated gross misconduct hearing was held by Northamptonshire Police on February 16, 2023, which determined that, had Bonafia still been a serving police officer, he would have been dismissed without notice.