A former police constable who started a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl in the 1990s when he was a special constable has been barred from policing.
PC Paul Kanikowski would have been dismissed had he not resigned while under investigation for this incident.
A gross misconduct hearing was held at Sherwood Lodge Force HQ on Thursday 4 September. The hearing was open to both the press and the public.
The hearing heard that Kanikowski, who was 19 at the time, met the girl known as Witness A at a Girl Guides and Scouts disco in October 1994.
After their first meeting, they met on multiple occasions until around January / February 1995.
During this time, the former officer kissed, touched and engaged in sexual activity with the girl, sometimes in the back of his car.
The hearing heard he knew she was below the legal age of consent.
The victim reported his behaviour to the police service in February 2024 when he was serving as a schools’ officer. He was immediately suspended.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Professional Standards Directorate carried out a thorough investigation and found the former officer breached the following standards of professional behaviour – discreditable conduct and authority, respect and courtesy.
Criminal proceedings have not been taken as a statute of limitations applied to this offence as prosecutions needed to be initiated within 12 months of the alleged incident for offences committed between 1956 and 2004, prior to legislative reforms.
The hearing heard that the former officer, who was not in attendance, had an exemplary record in the 25 years he had served.
Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin, who chaired the gross misconduct hearing with two independent panel members, found Kanikowski guilty of gross misconduct.
He will therefore be barred from policing.
DCC Griffin said:
“The public are entitled to expect police officers to uphold the highest standards.
“Conduct of this nature is very concerning and has the potential to significantly undermine the trust that the public place in the police.
“In terms of culpability we find that the Former Officer was highly culpable for his actions. We have found that he was entirely aware of the age difference, and he must have been aware that what he was doing was both a criminal act and, in any event, utterly reprehensible.
“We identify serious harm to public trust and confidence in policing.
“This is a case of a former police officer having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old school child. That is a breach of the criminal law as well as the obligation on a police officer to protect members of the public, particularly vulnerable ones, from such behaviour.
“We are satisfied that the officer pursued Witness A and developed a relationship with her, which ceased abruptly when he had sex with her.
“We found the evidence from Witness A as honest, accurate and compelling.
“This country has a system of policing by consent, by citizens in uniform. That relies on the public trusting and having confidence in police officers to serve them. Behaviour such as this strikes at the heart of trust. Police officers are expected to uphold the law, not to break it. This is a high harm case.
“His harmful conduct is likely to undermine public confidence and the reputation of Nottinghamshire Police and therefore he must be barred from policing in order to protect the public.”
Superintendent Heather Maelor, who oversees the work of the special constables and schools’ officers, said:
“We are aware that today’s misconduct hearing is likely to cause alarm and distress across our local community.
“We have taken this matter extremely seriously as we know Kanikowski’s actions has the potential to undermine all the great work that we do with children.
“It is therefore vitally important we offer the public some reassurance.
“We want to stress that the safeguarding of our children is of paramount importance to us, and we have robust and rigorous vetting procedures in place.
“As soon as this historic incident was reported to us on 15 February 2024, Kanikowski was suspended from Nottinghamshire Police.
“Following the hearing, he will no longer be able to serve with any other police service and has been placed on the police barred list.
“We are not currently aware of any further complaints made against this officer.”
“Since December 2024, we have further enhanced our vetting checks for those working with children, especially those in leadership roles following The College of Policing introducing enhanced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) vetting standards.
“We also offer additional training to our officers, staff and volunteers to look out for inappropriate behaviour or safeguarding concerns and to take robust action by reporting it to their line manager or through our Professional Standards Directorate.
“Nottinghamshire Police works with hundreds of children and young people, building close networks within the communities we serve.
“This is a key part of our work, and we know the actions of Kanikowski is not representative of all the great work that our officers, volunteers and police staff perform daily to keep our children safe.”
