PC Leigh Brightman, from Hertfordshire Police, admitted sex offences
A police constable who arranged to have sex with a 15-year-old runaway girl has admitted misconduct in public office and been told he will face a jail term.
Leigh Brightman, 37, of Tennyson Ave, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, had been asked to investigate the girl's disappearance and found her working as a prostitute.
The officer, who is suspended from duty, then invited her to his home for sex, the Old Bailey heard.
He also had sex with two women he met during the course of his duties.
On the day his trial was due to start, Brightman pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office between 2009 and last year.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC said a guilty plea would reduce the likely sentence to between three years and nine months, and four years.
'Abuse of trust'
Brightman, who had been suspended from Hertfordshire Police pending the outcome of his case, was caught after the 15-year-old girl told police about the plan to go to his house, the court heard.
When he was arrested in August last year, police found 117 indecent images of children on his laptop and one indecent film.
The judge described the girl as "particularly vulnerable person", and said the officer's conduct amounted to an "abuse of trust".
The court heard Brightman's other two offences involved a prostitute in her 20s and a woman in her 40s, who had gone to the police saying she was being harassed by an ex-boyfriend.
Brightman had already been formally acquitted of a rape charge, while two more counts of misconduct and one count of making indecent photos of a child are expected to lie on file.
The defendant had "marital difficulties" after finding out his wife had been unfaithful. The couple have since reconciled and Brightman's wife has been very "supportive", the court heard.
Judge Lucraft remanded Brightman in custody ahead of sentencing on 27 November.
