Woman targeted by PC for sex left petrified
Devon & Cornwall PoliceA domestic violence victim targeted for sex by an on-duty police officer says she has lost faith in the police and courts.
James Stillman, 32, from Chard, was jailed for 28 months after pleading guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office relating to two vulnerable women he targeted in 2025.
The judge at Bristol Crown Court said the former Devon and Cornwall Police officer was likely to serve 40% of his sentence in custody, which one of his victims described as "truly, truly awful and completely unfair".
The victim said: "I am now petrified, scared, and have absolutely zero trust in the police and that is because of what this officer did to me."
Last month, Bristol Crown Court heard he had sex with the victim last summer while carrying out a welfare check at her home.
The victim told the BBC: "He stood in my front door and asked me multiple times if there is anything else he can do for me, and I kept saying no, you can go.
"He then asked me to do three sexual things to him to, which I said no."
She said Stillman grabbed her clothing and was touching himself indecently.
"At this point, I was feeling really scared and really frightened," she said.
"He was so persistent, I thought he's not going to leave until he gets what wants."
'Premeditation'
After they had brief intercourse, she said the former officer told her: "You are not going to tell anyone about this, are you?
"I said no because I was completely petrified.
"I thought how has this happened... I couldn't comprehend that a police officer had come round with an intention - the fact he never gave his real name, he always gave his colleague's name is almost like premeditation."
The victim said she felt as though she was living in a prison inside her own head.
"All the nightmares, I'm waking myself up screaming and crying, seeing him in my nightmares and it's heartbreaking," she said.
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After the victim reported the incident to the police, Stillman's phone was seized and it emerged he had also been texting a teenager asking her to "send pics" and telling her he wanted to have sex with her in the weeks prior.
The force said the former officer was immediately arrested and suspended from duty.
But shortly after reporting Stillman to police, the woman said she and her domestic abuse worker were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
"I'd hardly had any sleep," she said.
"I didn't think twice, I just signed it. I didn't know why I was signing it.
"But then after realising that meant I couldn't talk to anybody about what happened... it broke me."
Afterwards, she questioned the decision and referred it to the force's police and crime commissioner.
The force apologised to the victim and admitted an NDA should never have been used.
Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew said: "Any non-disclosure agreement should be very carefully considered.
"Whilst the intentions may have been noble, we accept it should not have been used on this occasion. It was rescinded at the earliest opportunity.
"Its intention was never to silence the voice of the victim, and I apologise if it was received this way.
"The sole purpose was to ensure the integrity of the investigation was preserved and evidence recovered prior to the arrest of the suspect who was, at the time, a serving police officer."
'Absolutely zero trust'
Devon and Cornwall Police said: "The actions of James Stillman are reprehensible, and he has been convicted and imprisoned as a result.
"He abused his position of power and authority to target his victims for his own needs in the belief that they were unlikely to report his actions to the police.
"We expect all our officers and staff to maintain high levels of professional standards and behaviour and Stillman showed a disregard for this expectation, which is totally unacceptable.
"We remain committed to improving the service we provide to victims of violence against women and girls and will use this feedback to ensure we continually improve."
The victim has referred Stillman's sentence to the Attorney General's Office for review under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
A spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Office confirmed it had received a request, adding: "The Law Officers will now carefully consider the case and make a decision."