Allan Richards, 53, from Thaxted Road, Birmingham, served with the force for 31 years and is charged with committing the crimes against boys aged 11-18 between 1983 and 2013.
He also faces two counts of misconduct in public office.
West Midlands Police said it had referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The former officer has been charged with a series of sexual assaults, indecent assaults and sexual touching.
The force said the charges of misconduct in public office related to alleged misuse of police powers to sexually exploit boys while he was a serving police officer.
Mr Richards was a police constable between 1980 and 2011.
He is due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday.

Food sales increased in February but overall Scottish sales declined year-on-year by 1.9%.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) said 2017 had "got off to a somewhat sluggish start" following a second successive month of falling sales.
It suggested consumers were responding to a combination of moderate wage growth and rising overall inflation.
SRC director David Lonsdale said: "In recent months we've seen a polarisation in the performance of food and non-food categories, which continued in February.
"Food sales continued to edge up, helped by good sales of wine and chocolates for St Valentine's Day as well as stronger demand for grocers' meal deals, which perhaps hints at less eating out during the period as consumers reined in spending.
"By contrast, non-food categories fell back once again, particularly clothing, footwear and household appliances, though there was continuing interest in mobile phones, wearable technology and a revival in gaming products."
He added: "These figures suggest Scottish consumers are maybe beginning to tighten their belts and acknowledge the strain from rising overall inflation and moderating wage growth, with council tax set to creep up soon too."

Gibbs had the upper hand and was serving at 7-5 2-6 2-1 when the players were called off on Sunday evening.
Their match will resume on Monday following the conclusion of Grigor Dimitrov's contest against Viktor Troicki, which was due to start at 10:00 BST on court three, but has been delayed by heavy rain in Paris.
Kyle Edmund was among a host of players scheduled to begin their campaigns on day one but who must now wait on the weather.
Edmund will now be third on court six against qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, while fellow Briton Naomi Broady plays Coco Vandeweghe on court four.
British number one Andy Murray is scheduled to face 37-year-old Czech Radek Stepanek in the fourth game on Philippe-Chatrier Court, but, with more rain expected, it is likely they will play on Tuesday.
Australian Nick Kyrgios and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova both progressed before the rain delays on Sunday.
Kyrgios overcame a first-set code violation to beat Italy's Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.
The men's 17th seed picked up the warning for screaming at a ball boy for a towel during the first-set tie-break and then accused umpire Carlos Ramos of "unbelievable bias" for his punishment.
Tenth seed Kvitova needed three sets to get past Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-2 4-6 7-5.
Lucie Safarova, last year's losing finalist, breezed through to the second round with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko.
A former West Midlands Police officer has been charged with more than 30 child sex offences.
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Scottish retail sales fell last month as consumers started to "tighten their belts", according to new figures.
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Britain's number two Heather Watson fought back against American Nicole Gibbs at the French Open before play was suspended because of rain.