Former head of U.K. police watchdog group charged with raping a minor

London – The former head of the U.K.'s police watchdog, Michael Lockwood, has been charged with three counts of rape against a girl who was under the age of 16, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Friday. He has also been charged with six counts of indecent assault.

Lockwood, 64, ran the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which handles serious complaints against police in England and Wales, from 2018 to 2022, the organization said. On its website, the IOPC says it investigates, "the most serious matters, including deaths following police contact," and that it sets "the standards by which the police should handle complaints."

Lockwood stepped down in December last year after it emerged that he was under investigation.  

The events for which Lockwood is facing charges allegedly took place between October 1985 and March 1986, prosecutors said Friday. At that time, Lockwood was in his 30s. He is due to appear in court on June 28.