A serving Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) has been charged with one offence of rape following an investigation.

Liam McCormack, aged 41, who is based in Bristol, has been charged with the rape of a woman in South Gloucestershire in December 2016. He’ll appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Friday 14 July.

An investigation was immediately launched after this incident was reported to the police in December 2021, by a third party. The PCSO has been suspended since this time. He was off-duty at the time the alleged offence was committed.

A file of evidence was provided to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charge to be brought.

A referral was also made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which said the circumstances were suitable for a local investigation by Avon and Somerset Police. In addition to the criminal investigation, our Professional Standards Department are carrying out a parallel investigation into potential breaches of standards of professional behaviour.

To protect the integrity of this investigation and the ongoing criminal proceedings, we’re unable to go into more specific detail of the allegations at this stage.

We take all allegations of violence against women and girls extremely seriously and we know the public will be concerned whenever they’re made against a serving police officer, member of police staff or volunteer.

Whenever there’s an allegation of a criminal offence being committed, we’ll carry out thorough investigations and refer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging decisions to be made.