A forensic investigator with a “tattoo fetish” sexually assaulted a pregnant domestic violence victim inside a police station, a court heard.

Kevin Dowley, 62, allegedly pulled down her tights to leer at her inking and tried to kiss her after photographing her injuries.

He also allegedly rubbed his hand down a drug-addicted burglary victim’s dungarees after commenting on her tattoo, Basildon Crown Court heard.

One of his victims wept as she gave evidence from behind a screen yesterday.

Recalling the assault at Grays Police Station the domestic violence survivor said the Essex Police CSI made her sit in her bra for photographs before pulling down her leggings with shaking hands.

And as she walked out of the locked room Dowley allegedly tried to kiss her on the cheek and told her “You seem very vulnerable”.

The mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “He said to me ‘Does that [tattoo] go all the way down?’.

“I was sitting in the chair and he came beside me really close.

“He grabbed hold of the top of my leggings and rolled them down to the end of the tattoo.

“I didn’t give permission and he just pulled my leggings down until it got to the end of the tattoo.

“I thought ‘this wasn’t normal, you shouldn’t be doing this’.

“I felt disgusting a man touched me in that way.

“I’m sorry but you don’t touch people when they don’t give you the OK.

“I thought if I reported it no one would believe me.”

Dowley, of Burgess Avenue, Stanford-le-Hope, denies two counts of sexual assault that took place when he worked for Essex Police in July and August 2016.

The first count relates to a burglary victim who the court heard Dowley tried to befriend.

During one of the visits to her home he joked to her about her hot pants, before commenting on a tattoo.

Prosecutor Emma Nash told Basildon Crown Court: “He also made comments about her at the time and her tattoo which was revealed when she bent over.

“He went up behind her and stated he has a fetish for tattoos.”

On another visit he allegedly approached her in the bedroom before running his palm along her dungarees and made “contact with the skin” and reached down to “her pubic area”.

The woman pushed him away and told him to leave, but Dowley allegedly returned after she reported another burglary.

Ms Nash told the court Dowley picked his victims as they were “naïve and vulnerable”, but the women complained independently and both mentioned his interest in tattoos.

The trial, which is taking place before Judge Ian Graham this week, continues.