Depraved cop has left community broken

Monster who sexually assaulted girl while on duty leaves legacy of mistrust in officers with his former colleagues being abused while on patrol

- JOHN SHEERHOUT

WHEN Dean Dempster woke early on the morning of his penultimate shift as a respected police 'response officer' based in Oldham, he picked up his iPhone Pro 13 and searched the internet.

He had breakfast at his home in West Didsbury, south Manchester, and then casually looked up 'girls in diapers and pull ups, 'girls in nice underwear' and 'little girls on the beach and pool. It was still 7am.

Eventually, the sheer scale and horror of his secret depravity would be exposed, but, tragically, not before he carried out a horrific sex attack on a small child, a girl under the age of ten after he started his shift.

During a 999 call to a home in Oldham that day where screaming had been heard - he took his victim, who it was suspected had been assaulted, into a bedroom ostensibly to speak to her.

Out of view of other cops, he pulled down her pyjamas and sexually assaulted her. The youngster was, initially disbelieved when she told her aunt. But she insisted: "That's the truth.

That's what he did to me." She then demonstrated precisely what had just happened to her.

The crimes of Dempster, 35, would, eventually, unravel but they have devastated the girls' family who sobbed uncontrollably in court on Wednesday where he was handed a lengthy jail sentence after admitting sexual assault and possession of horrific child porn on that iPhone and other devices.

The girl cannot be identified and is entitled to lifelong anonymity as a victim of a sex crime.

Police have confirmed the investigation into Dempster - who worked as a paramedic for North West Ambulance Service and a special constable before joining Greater Manchester Police three years ago - is continuing.

Colleagues on the Oldham division of GMP are also victims of his crimes, thanks to a betrayal that has made a difficult job that much harder. One patrol car has been attacked and officers have to endure shouts of 'paedophile' while on patrol.