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A Cambridgeshire man and former police officer has been convicted of engaging in sexual activity with two underage girls.

Garry Wells-Burr, who served as a Police Constable in East Herts and Stevenage, was sentenced to six years at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (April 13).

The offences relate to the abuse of two girls between January 2010 and July 2014. The first victim was subjected to prolonged abuse between the ages of 12 and 16. The second victim suffered abuse when she was 15.

Honour Judge David Turner QC said Wells Burr's offending left his victims "shattered and confused".

The 36-year-old has also been placed on the sex offenders' register.

His sentencing follows an investigation by the force’s Joint Child Protection Investigation Team (JCPIT).

He was first arrested whilst on duty in January 2015 after officers in the JCPIT team received an allegation from a third party he had sexually assaulted two young girls.

He was immediately suspended from duty

Wells-Burr, of Needingworth, Cambridgeshire, was immediately suspended from duty while an investigation was launched.

He later pleaded guilty to: causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and two counts of sexual assault, all three of which have been ordered to lie on file.

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Summing up, Honour Judge David Turner QC said: “These were serious sexual offences, where you repeatedly offended between 2010 and 2014, at times on a weekly basis. 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.”

Detective Sergeant Adam Conder, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, 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. These offences will understandably have a far-reaching impact on both victims.

“I want to commend their bravery in coming forward and supporting our investigation so that justice could be served. I hope this sentence brings them a small sense of peace and they can begin to move on with their lives, knowing Wells-Burr is now behind bars.”

Wells-Burr was based at Bishop’s Stortford, Stevenage and Hertford police stations during his employment working as both an response officer and case investigation officer.

He never returned to work and was subsequently dismissed from the force for gross misconduct in February 2016 after he pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly.

Placed on the sex offenders' register

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also granted as part of the court hearing, which means Wells-Burr is prohibited from making any contact with either victim.

He is also prohibited 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.

Wells-Burr will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Chief Constable Charlie Hall said: “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.”