Ex-police inspector who abused girl, 13, is jailed

Russell Dew, who used to work for Nottinghamshire Police, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to five counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard that many of the incidents took place while Dew was wearing a skirt and a pair of tights and he often incorporated a pair of rigid handcuffs that had been issued to him through his police work.

The 44-year-old stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked at Mrs Justice Macur as she passed sentence on five counts of sexual activity with a child.

She said: “Two of those counts are sample counts and reflect a course of conduct in which, undoubtedly, you were grooming for sexual purposes a 13-year-old vulnerable girl.”

Mrs Justice Macur said Dew’s behaviour was a “selfish and intended pursuit of this girl for the ultimate pleasure of yourself”. She said the length of sentence reflected that she believed him to be a “dangerous offender” who would have been aided by the knowledge he attained during his time in the police force.

“Your position of trust, and one which involved you at stages of your career in an overview not only of domestic violence but also of sexual offenders, would have been encouraged by your work into thinking that you could cover your tracks.”

Prosecutor Andrew Peet said Dew resigned from the Nottinghamshire force in August this year. The incidents took place between February 11 and August 31 last year near Newark, the court heard.

Married Dew, who has four children, had become close to the young girl when she found difficulty confiding in her own family.

“In a nutshell, it’s the Crown’s case that the defendant took advantage of the friendship developing with the victim’s family, breaking the trust.”