Victoria Police has been ordered to pay $85,000 to a policewoman falsely arrested over the sexual abuse of a child, after detectives mistook her ex-husband, 32, for a 10-year-old boy in an intimate selfie of the couple.

A policewoman who was arrested over false suspicions of child sex abuse will receive compensation after detectives mistook her 32-year-old former husband for a 10-year-old boy in an intimate photo of the couple.

The County Court of Victoria has ordered Victoria Police to pay $85,000 for arresting and detaining the officer, whose ex-husband was under investigation for child sex abuse allegations.

Professional standards command detectives held the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for almost five hours on February 4, 2019 after a separate investigation into her then husband, who was eventually convicted of child sex abuse.