A female police officer has denied putting her private life before her duty after she found out that her fiance had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.
Pc Sarah Cohen says she was emotionally and physically drained when she visited the girl's parents but her intention was to offer them support rather than ask them to hush up the offence.
Cohen told a jury at Exeter Crown Court she had not slept for two nights and had spent much of the evening in tears after learning about the allegations against her live-in partner Jamie Reading.
She was in North Devon where Reading abused his position to organise unofficial sleepover parties in November 2011.
Reading, aged 37, who comes from Exeter but was living with Cohen in Lifton at the time, is currently serving a jail sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault in 2012.
Cohen, also aged 37, is on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The prosecution say she tried to prevent Reading's arrest after he made a histrionic suicide attempt at Meldon Dam and later tried to persuade the 14-year-old's parents not to report Reading's sexual assault to police.
Cohen has already told the jury she went to Meldon without informing her control room because she believed it was the best way of de-escalating the situation without putting anyone at risk.
She denies trying to influence the parents of the 14-year-old girl, who she visited the night after the incident at the dam.
In the meantime she had learned of Reading's sexual assault from a child who showed her text messages which he had been sent by the victim.
Cohen said she was shown the texts during a routine Monday night ATC meeting at which the girl's father was present. She told him immediately.
She said:"When I was shown the texts my immediate reaction was total shock. I did not have the slightest inkling Jamie (Reading) had been up to something like that.
"I don't recall if i cried then, but I did an awful lot of crying that night. I was totally shocked and confused. It opened a lot of questions. I was absolutely horrified. I did not doubt the truthfulness of what I was reading.
"I spoke to the girl and asked her who was going to tell her father - her or me. I asked the father into my office and showed him the texts.
"The girl did not give me any more details. I did not ask and she did not tell me. Her father's response was total shock.
"The child had gone out on a night exercise so there was just him and me left there. I broke down. I was distraught and in tears for an hour or so and he was also in shock and trying to console me."
She said she went to discuss the events of the past two days with friends who were also involved with the ATC and then went to see the girl's parents.
She said her intention was to support them and not to try to cover up Reading's crime.
She said:"I knew it was not going to stay in house."
In cross examination she said she was no longer in love with Reading by November 2011 and although they were engaged she only stayed with him because she felt trapped in the relationship.
She insisted she had not put her feelings above her professional duty as a police officer but said her mind was 'in 101 places' as a result of events of the previous two days.
