PC convicted of sexually assaulting a maid and superimposing his face into child abuse footage

A police officer who attacked a vulnerable young girl while on duty and superimposed his face on child abuse images has been jailed for nine years.

Dean Dempster, 35, who was a response officer for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) based in Oldham, sexually touched the child while responding to a disturbance in Oldham on December 29, 2023.

He was arrested at work the next day after an argument about a formal complaint against him, and his personal and work phones were confiscated.

It later became clear that Dempster had deleted material and applications from his personal cell phone before his arrest that morning.

A search was conducted at his home and a number of items were recovered, including another iPhone, a bundle of four pairs of folded children’s underwear, shredded underwear in a bag, a disk containing images and two hard drives.

Dempster’s mobile phone and iPad were found to contain 104 indecent images of children classified as Category A – the most serious – including 30 pseudo-images of that level, as well as 440 Category B images, including 129 pseudo-images, and 2,472 Category C images , including 39 pseudo-images.

A large number of the pseudo-images were overlaid to depict Dempster with children.

An examination of his devices revealed that Dempster had downloaded indecent images of children from December 15, 2021 to December 29, 2023.

Further analysis of his internet usage revealed that Dempster was searching for children’s feet, and in December 2023 websites were visited that contained content involving children’s feet.

Dempster was dismissed by GMP following an expedited misconduct hearing in May 2024.

He previously pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault on a child under 13, six charges of making indecent images of children and two charges of misconduct in a public office.

The prosecution followed an investigation by GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Dempster was today sentenced to nine years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court.

Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crimes Unit, said: “Dean Dempster’s actions were abhorrent and he betrayed the trust placed in him as a police officer.

“The assault took place while he was on duty and there is no doubt that the victim was deeply affected by being targeted by someone in authority.

“Follow-up searches of Dempster’s devices and his home address revealed additional deplorable violations, and he is now facing the consequences for his actions.

“The Crown Prosecution Service will not hesitate to bring charges against those who abuse their position and target young people in such a reprehensible manner.”