Former officer jailed for child sex offences spanning four-year period
A chief constable warned there is “no hiding place” for sex offenders whatever their occupation after one of his former officers was jailed for the “wicked” and repeated abuse of two girls.
Ex-Police Constable Garry Wells-Burr, who served with Hertfordshire Constabulary between 2003 and 2016, was sentenced to a six-year prison term at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (April 13) after admitting three child sex offences.
Following an investigation by the force’s Joint Child Protection Investigation Team (JCPIT), the 36-year-old pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and sexual assault between 2010 and 2014.
He denied one count of sexual assault on a child under 13 and two counts of sexual assault, all three of which have been ordered to lie on file.
The first victim was subjected to prolonged abuse between the ages of 12 and 16, the second victim suffering abuse when she was 15.
Wells-Burr was first arrested while on duty in January 2015 after JCPIT officers received an allegation from a third party reporting that he had sexually assaulted two young girls.
Wells-Burr, from Needingworth, Cambridgeshire, was immediately suspended from duty while an investigation was launched.
He never returned to work and was subsequently dismissed from the force for gross misconduct in February 2016 following an investigation into an unrelated matter*.
As part of his summing up, Judge David Turner QC said Wells-Burr had repeatedly offended over a four-year period, at times on a weekly basis.
He added: “Your grave misconduct left your victims shattered and confused, and their victim impact statements were painful reading.
“The wickedness of what you have done will have a lasting and damaging impact on both of them. You were a trusted individual and you breached that trust with your covertly manipulative and shameful abuse of power.
“You targeted two relatively young children and the abuse was repeated and sustained. This was a betrayal of everything you had trained for and believed in.”
JCPIT Detective Sergeant Adam Conder said: “While these crimes were not linked to Wells-Burr’s job as a police officer in any way, his actions were an utter contradiction of someone whose job is to protect and serve the public.”
Chief Constable Charlie Hall added: “We recognise the significant impact sexual offending has upon its victims and we are completely committed to thoroughly investigating reports.
“There is no-place for a sex offender to hide no matter what their job, and the specialist team who led this inquiry were both tenacious and highly professional in their investigative approach.
“The impact of these crimes is devastating and the victims in this case have received specialist support throughout the investigation. I commend their courage in helping bring Garry Wells-Burr to justice.”
A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also granted as part of the court hearing, prohibiting Wells-Burr from making any contact with either victim. He is also barred from having any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 and the person supervising that contact must be fully aware of these convictions.
In addition to his prison term, Wells-Burr will also be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.