A police officer allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to an underage girl on Instagram.
Court documents seen by the New Zealand Herald allege the Christchurch man, who is aged in his mid-40s, committed the offences between February 5 and February 26, 2023.
He faces two charges of being a person of or over the age of 16 years who intentionally exposed a young person under the age of 16 years to indecent material, namely sexually explicit messages via the Instagram messaging app.
The man’s occupation on court documents is a police officer.
The Herald approached police for comment. In a statement, a police spokeswoman said the man was no longer a police employee and police were unable to comment further.
A Christchurch District Court registrar confirmed the man is next due to appear in court in May.
