Nearly 90 Police Scotland officers probed over sex allegations

Police Scotland has said it takes "every report about sexual offending seriously" after it emerged nearly 90 officers have been investigated following allegations against them in the past three years.

Nearly 90 Police Scotland officers are being investigated in relation to sex offence allegations in the past three years

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request has revealed 86 officers have been investigated in relation to criminal allegations of sexual offences - both on and off duty - between April 2016 and March this year.

Of that number, 36 officers are subject to live investigations while 16 officers have been charged in relation to a sexual offence.

Eleven officers faced allegations made by colleagues, while 74 officers had allegations made by members of the public.

A spokeswoman for the force said: "We take every report about sexual offending seriously and incidents reported to us will be thoroughly investigated, no matter who is involved.

"The vast majority of our officers and staff conduct themselves to the high standards we and the public expect, however when we do receive reports of criminality involving our employees they will be rigorously investigated in the same way any other report would be.

"Where there is evidence of criminality, the circumstances will be reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as well as to the professional standards department."