By ED HOLT Published: 14:40 BST, 25 September 2025 | Updated: 15:29 BST, 25 September 2025 14 shares
A police officer who helped Claudia Lawrence's father after she disappeared has been charged with possessing indecent images of children.Paul Beckwith was a family liaison officer for North Yorkshire Police when Miss Lawrence vanished in March 2009. He was subsequently pictured beside Peter Lawrence - who sadly died in 2021 never finding out what happened to his daughter - during a police appeal for information.The 53-year-old from York was suspended from the force after he was arrested on November 17 2024.This week he was charged with with three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism and is due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on Monday, October 29. The allegations are not connected to his career as a police officer. In a statement, North Yorkshire Police told Daily Mail: 'A former North Yorkshire Police officer has been charged with three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism.'The 53-year-old man, from York, was arrested on 17 November 2024 on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. He was immediately suspended from duties. Peter Lawrence (left) next to Paul Beckwith (right) in 2009 appealing for information about the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence. Beckwith has since been charged with possessing indecent images of children Mr Lawrence with his daughter. Miss Lawrence, 35, was last seen returning to her home in the Heworth area of York from her job at the city's university over 16 years ago'He was further arrested on 13 March 2025 regarding the suspected voyeurism and additional indecent images of children offences.'Following charge on 24 September, he has been released on conditional bail and is due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on 29 October 2025 at 2pm.'Before formally leaving the force in April 2025, Beckwith was the Chief Pilot of North Yorkshire Police Drone Unit. In 2023 he proudly led a Remembrance Day parade through York.Miss Lawrence, 35, was last seen returning to her home in the Heworth area of York from her job at the city's university over 16 years ago. The search became one of the largest missing persons investigations by North Yorkshire Police.Nine arrests were made, and in 2015 a file on four men was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service – but no one was ever charged.Before his death in February 2021, aged 74, Mr Lawrence made regular appeals for information to keep the case of his daughter, a chef, in the public eye.He channelled his experience into campaign and ambassador roles with the Missing People charity and received an OBE for helping to shape the 2017 Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act, known informally as Claudia's Law.The law created a new legal status of guardian of the affairs of a missing person, allowing someone to act in their best interests after they have been gone for 90 days or more.The new legislation means families can oversee the financial and property affairs of their missing loved one, if the person has been missing for 90 days - lessening what can be a huge burden at a traumatic time.
