Ex-Police Officer from Ealing Sentenced for Child Sex Offence

Barry Geering thought he was communicating with underage girl

Barry Geering. Picture: Wiltshire Police

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June 25, 2025

A former police officer from Ealing has received a suspended jail sentence after it was found he sent messages of a sexual nature to a girl aged under 16.

Barry Geering, who at the time of the offence was working for Wiltshire Police, believed that he was communicating with a child on Snapchat over several days. In fact, the messages were sent to a team at the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) which was proactively working to catch paedophiles online.

44-year-old Geering was arrested in April 2024 and convicted last month after entering a guilty plea. He was immediately suspended from duty and resigned from the force two months later. 

This Monday (23 June) at Bristol Magistrates’ Court, he was sentenced to 28 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 30 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.

He will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years and was handed a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Wiltshire Police's Professional Standards Department have carried out a separate investigation into potential breaches of the standards of professional behaviour which has now concluded, with the findings informing an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing in July.

Temporary Detective Inspector Alex Spargo from the Online Investigations Team at SWROCU said, “Barry Geering thought he was communicating with a child when he used Snapchat to engage in sexual communications. The work of our team means he was promptly identified and arrested – and, critically, he no longer works as a police officer.”

Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Catherine Roper said: “I, like my colleagues, am appalled by the actions of this former officer. I also recognise that this may impact upon trust and confidence our communities have in Wiltshire Police. The abhorrent crime, for which he has been sentenced, is against everything that we in policing represent. Our core priority is to protect the most vulnerable in society, and to keep everyone safe. This is the priority of Wiltshire Police.”

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