A serving police officer in London has admitted in court to sexual offences with a child under 13.

Special Police Sergeant Craig Keane, 28, pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual assault on a child when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday.

He is an officer with the Met’s special volunteer force based across London, Scotland Yard said. His role is unpaid.

But he was arrested at an address in Wickford in Essex, the East London Advertiser has learned today. Keane, who has been suspended from duty, was charged on January 27 following an investigation by the Met’s Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command in east London. He is being sentenced at the same court on Monday.