FORMER OFFICER JAILED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES SPANNING FOUR-YEAR PERIOD
2018.Former Hertfordshire police officer Garry Wells-Burr, who worked with the force from 2003 until 2016, was sentenced to six years in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (April 13) after admitting to three child sex offences.
An inquiry by the Joint Child Protection Investigation Team (JCPIT) led to Wells-Burr, aged 36, pleading guilty to charges including causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual acts, causing sexual activity without consent, and sexual assault, with these offences occurring between 2010 and 2014.
He denied one charge of sexual assault on a child under 13 and two other sexual assault charges, which were ordered to be formally recorded.
The first victim endured long-term abuse from the ages of 12 to 16, while the second was abused at 15.
Wells-Burr was first detained in January 2015 while on duty after authorities received an allegation that he had assaulted two young girls.
Residing in Needingworth, Cambridgeshire, he was suspended immediately following his arrest, and he was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct in February 2016 related to a separate matter.
During sentencing, Judge David Turner QC highlighted that Wells-Burr had repeatedly committed offences over four years, sometimes weekly.
He remarked, “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 JCPIT stated that although these crimes were not connected to Wells-Burr’s police duties, his conduct starkly contradicts the role of law enforcement.
Chief Constable Charlie Hall assured that the force takes sexual offences seriously and thoroughly investigates all reports.
He praised the professionalism of the investigation team and the bravery of the victims, reinforcing that no one, regardless of occupation, is above accountability.
A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was issued, preventing Wells-Burr from contact with his victims and banning any unsupervised interaction with children under 16, with the supervising adult fully aware of his convictions.
Alongside his custodial sentence, Wells-Burr will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.
