A former Hertfordshire Constabulary police officer has been jailed for a total of six years for a number of sexual offences against children.

Garry Wells-Burr was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, April 13, following an investigation by the force’s Joint Child Protection Investigation Team (JCPIT).

Wells-Burr later 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.

The 36-year-old 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.

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.

Wells-Burr was first arrested whilst on duty in January 2015 after officers in the investigation team received a call from a third party reporting that he had sexually assaulted two young girls.

Wells-Burr, who is 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.

Wells-Burr was based at Bishop’s Stortford, Stevenage and Hertford police stations during his employment with the Constabulary, working as both an Intervention and Response officer and a Case Investigation officer.

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.”

As part of his summing up in the court room, 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.”

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.