Retired Exeter police office jailed for abusing young girls
A retired police officer has been jailed for abusing two young sisters almost 20 years ago.
Colin Dearing, aged 82, simulated sex with the girls when they were aged eight to 11 but claimed he had only been playing innocent games in their bedrooms.
He is a former police officer who served with the Met and the old Exeter force and went on to be a river bailiff and worked a removals man with a firm in Bishopsteignton.
Dearing was caught after the girls told their parents about their childhood ordeals and they confronted the pensioner, who was left speechless and unable to deny them.
Dearing, aged 82, of Richmond Place, Dawlish, denied five counts of indecent assault against the two girls but was found guilty at a trial last year.
He was jailed for two years and six months by Recorder Mr Philip Mott, QC, at Exeter Crown Court, who told him he had abused the trust of the girl’s family, who had allowed him to be alone with the victims.
He told him:”Your visits to their home were welcome and you were trusted. You went upstairs to play with these young girls, leaving other adults downstairs.
“They did not think anything about that, but all the time you were attracted to young girls and took the opportunity to rub yourself against them.
“The girls were innocent, confused and uncomfortable. You may think what you did has not harmed them because you did not undress them or yourself, but behaviour of this sort coming from a much older man with a degree of authority can cause deep psychological damage.
“The aggravating features of this case are an abuse of trust and significant planning in which you put yourself in a position to commit these offences.”
During a three day trial in December the prosecution alleged Dearing abused the girls while visiting their parents home in Newton Abbot in the late 1990s and going upstairs when they were on their own in their bedrooms.
The two women, who are now grown up, say neither were aware at the time the other was being abused. They said they were so young and naive they did not realise the significance of what he was doing.
Dearing said he had never done anything inappropriate with the children and had been so shocked when he was confronted by their parents he was left speechless and unable to deny the allegations.
He claimed at the time he was very fat with a 44 inch waist which he said would have made it impossible to carry out the offences.
Mr Jason Beal, defending, said Dearing’s background would make a prison sentence very difficult for him and would deprive his elderly wife of his support.
December 2015
Former police officer found guilty of abusing girls
A RETIRED police officer is set to be jailed about being found guilty of the historic abuse of two young sisters.
Colin Dearing, 82, claimed the girls had lied about him simulating sex with them when they were aged eight to 11 in the 1990s but the jury at Exeter Crown Court accepted their account.
He is a former police officer who served with the Met and the old Exeter force who has also worked as a river inspector on the Norfolk Broads and a removals man with a firm in Bishopsteignton.
He was found guilty after the jury heard how the girls’ parents had confronted him about the allegations and he had been unable to deny them.
Dearing, of Richmond Place, Dawlish, denied five counts of indecent assault, three against one girl and two against the other, but was found guilty on all charges.
Recorder Mr Philip Mott, QC, ordered a probation pre-sentence report and released Dearing on bail.
He said: “You must realise that for these sorts of offences the usual and overwhelmingly probable sentence is one of immediate imprisonment. The fact I am granting you bail is no indication of leniency.
“I shall decide the disposal when I have read the reports and heard mitigation and know more about you.”
He ordered Dearing to sign on the sex offenders’ register immediately.
During a three day trial the prosecution allege he abused the girls while visiting their parents’ home in Newton Abbot and going upstairs when they were on their own in their bedrooms.
The two women, who are now grown up, say neither were aware at the time the other was being abused. They said they were so young and naive they did not realise the significance of what he was doing.
Dearing said he had never done anything inappropriate with the children and had been so shocked when he was confronted by their parents he was left speechless and unable to deny the allegations.
He said: “I never had simulated sex with either of the girls. At the time I had a 44 inch waist and I would have hurt them if anything like that happened.
“When their parents came to my house I was so shocked at hearing what I was being accused of that I could not speak.”
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