A FIREFIGHTER who sexually groomed teenage cadets in his care has been caged for four years.
David Ross Gittins, 25, of Abbots Close, Bagillt, was sentenced for a string of sexual offences relating to teenagers at Chester Crown Court yesterday .
Many of his young victims and their families wept in the dock as the Recorder of Chester Judge Elgan Edwards read out sentences for 14 offences which included possession, making and distributing indecent images of a child, engaging in a sexual act in front of a child and grooming.
From September 2008 to September 2009, bi-sexual Gittins embarked upon a string of conquests in which he groomed teenage cadets, the court heard.
After working in a factory and as a Special Constable for North Wales Police, he volunteered with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Cadets in Ellesmere Port in the hope of becoming a firefighter, which he later did.
During his time with the fire cadets he played an active volunteer role in their weekly two-hour meetings and attended a number of other activities including camping trips.
The fire authority sent Gittins on a number of child protection courses which discussed grooming and warned that officers should avoid having relationships with cadets even after they had turned 18.
Despite these warnings and unknown to fire chiefs, ‘sexual predator’ Gittins preyed on nine of the youngsters, firstly by engaging in conversations of a sexual nature with them via chat rooms and social networking sites, before sending them sexual images of himself.
On many occasions this led to him later asking the children to send sexual or naked pictures of themselves, or engaging in sexual acts in front of a web cam.
In two cases young victims were lured to Gittins’ home, offered alcohol and pictured performing sexual acts with Gittins himself, on more than one occasion.
Gittins admitted to distributing one of these images on the internet to another social networking user to encourage them to send him sexual images of themselves.
Prosecuting Owen Edwards told the court that Gittins would lure in cadets by showing them images of other cadets he had previously targeted by telling them it was “normal”.
He said that many of the victims did not tell anyone about their activities with Gittins as they felt “too embarrassed”.
Mr Edwards added: “He abused his position of trust to engage in acts for his own sexual gratification.”
But Gittins’ was snared by one brave cadet who told Cadet Team Leader Joy Brothwood about his lurid acts with a young female cadet.
Shortly after the alarm was raised Gittins was arrested and police stormed his Flintshire home to seize his computer and a number of other victims came forward.
In the memory of the computer police discovered 155 images ranging from one to four on scale of severity, with five being the worst.
Also found were a number of MSN and Facebook conversations with a number of male teenagers of a sexual nature.
Defending Mary McKeone told the court that Gittins, who has no previous convictions, had now come to terms with his homosexuality and was in a relationship with a supportive partner of his own age.
She said that at no point did he physically threaten his victims or intimidate them and did not attempt to keep any of his behaviour secret.
The court heard that since their ordeal with Gittins, many of the victims had suffered insomnia, weigh loss, depression and one teenager had even attempted suicide.
In sentencing Gittins, Judge Edwards said branded him as a “sexual predator” who abused an “honourable” position.
He was sentenced to four years imprisonment for 14 offences. Gittins will also be place on the Sexual Offenders Register and is disqualified from working with children for life.
As part of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order he will also be banned from using the internet, file sharing, accessing social networking sites or chat rooms and being in the same room as a child under 18 without a parent or guardian present.
He is also not permitted to contact any of the victims named through the court in relation to the case.
- Tim Bevington, head of corporate communications at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Mr Gittins’ employment with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service ended on July 16, 2010.
“He had joined the service as a trainee firefighter in March 2009 and in line with our policy had satisfactorily completed a Criminal Records Bureau Check.
“While this is an extremely concerning case, it was brought to light by the prompt action of other staff within the service and the police were immediately contacted and Mr Gittins suspended.
“Our service works extensively with young people and we take every possible precaution to ensure their safety with effective policies, procedures and staff training.”