RAF doctor jailed for child sex offences against girls as young as 13 is struck off

Andrew Groves was serving as a Wing Commander at a Royal Air Force station Pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activityThrown out of the medical profession five months after his incarceration

An ‘utterly corrupt’ RAF doctor has been struck off for child sex offences against girls as young as 13.

Andrew Groves was serving as a Wing Commander at a Royal Air Force station when he inappropriately communicated with two underage girls 18 years ago.

A professional tribunal heard that years on, the ‘deluded’ doctor had a ‘continued’ sexual interest in children and failed to accept any guilt for his actions.

In 2018, Groves was arrested by Lincolnshire Police and he was later charged with two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, to which he pleaded not guilty.

He was jailed for three years for the offences last year and has now been thrown out of the medical profession five months after his incarceration.

Andrew Groves was serving as a Wing Commander at a Royal Air Force station when he inappropriately communicated with two underage girls some 18 years ago

A hearing of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, held to determine Groves’ professional future, was told Groves qualified from the University of London as a doctor in 1989 and from then onwards specialised in Occupational Medicine.

In 2005, the doctor was employed by the Royal Air Force at their Cranwell station in Lincolnshire, England.

During this time, he was an officer commanding the Recruitment and Selection Department of Occupational Medicine and held the rank of Wing Commander.

After a trial held in April last year at Lincoln Crown Court, in which he pleaded not guilty, the doctor was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed on him for a period of 10 years or until further order.

Samantha Gray, the tribunal’s chair, said: ‘Dr Groves was convicted of two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.’

Peter Byrne, representing the General Medical Council, informed the panel that as recently as July, during the doctor’s sentencing, a Crown Court judge ‘confirmed that Dr Groves’ sexual interest in children persists’.

It was also heard that Groves refused ‘to accept his guilt’ and 18 years after the offences, maintained his defence ‘that he believed he was communicating with like-minded ‘perverted’ adults’.

Furthermore, Mr Byrne said the doctor showed a ‘lack of insight of remediation’ regarding his offences.

Miss Gray added: ‘[Mr Byrne] submitted that any acknowledgement of fault is limited because of Dr Groves’ refusal to accept responsibility for his misconduct, and the more concerning finding that Dr Grove has a continued sexual interest in children.

‘Mr Byrne submitted that Dr Groves demonstrated a deliberate or reckless disregard for the principles set out in [General Medical Practise] and that in light of the sexual nature of his offence and the lack of insight, erasure is necessary to maintain the high standards and good reputation of the profession.

‘He submitted that there are different levels of seriousness when it comes to sexual misconduct, but that Dr Groves’ conduct is certainly towards the top of any scale as he attempted to incite two separate children to engage in penetrative sexual activity.’

In 2005, the doctor was employed by the Royal Air Force at their Cranwell station (pictured) in Lincolnshire, England

The tribunal were reminded of the ‘gravity of the offending’ and the Judge’s sentencing remarks that branded Groves as ‘utterly corrupt’ and maintaining a ‘deluded self-belief’.

The Lincoln Crown Court judge said: ‘Whilst there are no contact sexual offences committed by the defendant, there are safeguarding concerns if he were to enter into a relationship with any person who had children or have any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of sixteen.’

In mitigation, the tribunal was made aware that Groves had an ‘exemplary military and medical career’.

Miss Gray said: ‘The Tribunal determined that in light of the extremely serious nature of Dr Groves’ offending and the aggravating factors, any sanction less than erasure would fail to mark the gravity of the offence or uphold the overarching objective.’