Officer stood down over sex, violence claims

A senior Auckland police officer is being investigated over assault and sexual violation allegations by two women.

The officer has been stood down.

The Herald understands part of the investigation has been conducted in Auckland.

However the rest of the inquiry is being handled by a high-ranking officer who has been brought up from the South Island.

Allegations have been made by two women.

One of them says she was assaulted by the officer in early 2000.

She was allegedly punched in the face and left with bruising and a black eye.

Allegations relating to the second woman are understood to be of a serious sexual nature. The sexual offending is understood to have happened at a different time and place from the assault.

Both women knew the officer at the time of the alleged incidents, but it is not known if they knew each other.

Auckland City police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty confirmed that a senior, unnamed, officer was stood down from his job on March 16.

"An officer ... was stood down from duties pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of criminal offending," she said. "That investigation is ongoing."