Queen's soldier held with wife on child rape charge

Neighbours: the Queen's Windsor Castle residence not far from the accused couple's home
Laura Roberts12 April 2012

One of the Queen's soldiers and his primary school teacher wife have been arrested and charged on suspicion of raping a girl under the age of 13.

Household Cavalry trooper Simon Davies and his wife Fiona are being held by police investigating a child pornography ring.

Davies, 37, has served in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and is thought to be known by Princes William and Harry.

Video footage of the alleged sex attack has circulated among paedophiles over the internet, police believe.

The film was found on a computer seized by detectives during a raid on a house in London.
The soldier was allegedly identified from the video by police who traced him through internet providers.

As a result, a squad of 12 officers descended on his home at Broom Farm Estate, Windsor, which is largely populated by armed forces families and is less than two miles from the Queen's residence at Windsor Castle.

The guardsman is based at Combermere Barracks, where both William and Harry served with the Blues & Royals regiment before they moved on to complete helicopter training.

He and his wife, 44, appeared at Reading magistrates' court after being questioned by police over the weekend.

The soldier is accused of three counts of raping a girl under 13, one of serious sexual assault and another of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Two of the rapes took place on January 26 and 28 this year.

Fiona Davies was charged with one count of raping the girl, aiding and abetting a sex attack and ill-treatment of a child. The pair were remanded in custody until they appear at Reading crown court on December 15.

Police have gathered evidence including computers and photo albums in dozens of evidence bags taken from Davies's home.

A neighbour said: "Police have been here for five days and won't say what is going on."

The MoD confirmed that if Davies is found guilty he will be immediately discharged from the Army.

A spokesman said: "The matter is subject to a civil police investigation and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further while this is ongoing."

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

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