Wayne Couzens is due to appear in court next month
Former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens has been charged with four counts of indecent exposure which allegedly took place in the weeks before he murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021.
The Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges on Friday, saying the alleged offences took place between January and February 2021, when Couzens was a serving officer.
The 49-year-old faces allegations that he “intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm and distress”.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “Following a referral of evidence by the Metropolitan Police, the CPS has authorised four charges of indecent exposure against Wayne Couzens.”
Couzens, who kidnapped Everard as she walked home in south London on March 3, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 April.
Couzens, who was part of the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit, is serving a whole life term for abducting, raping, and murdering Everard who he used his police ID to stop under the guide of a covid check.
The 33-year-old’s family released a statement earlier this month, to mark the anniversary of the day she went missing, saying how their “lives have changed forever”.
“It is a year since Sarah died and we remember her today, as every day, with all our love. Our lives have changed forever and we live with the sadness of our loss. Sarah was wonderful and we miss her all the time.
“Over the past year, we have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us, not just by family and friends, but by the wider public. We are immensely grateful to everyone for their support, it has meant such a lot to us and has comforted us through this terrible time.”
The Met also released a statement saying: “Our thoughts are with Sarah Everard’s family and loved ones. One year on we remain deeply disgusted and shamed that a Met police officer was responsible for Sarah’s appalling murder.”
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