Firefighter 'had sex with girl, 13, in his car after meeting her at school open day'

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A firefighter had sex with a girl in his car, who he had met during a school open day, a court has heard.

Scott Cameron, an officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court today accused of a series of child sex offences, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The 39-year-old is accused of telling the teenager that she was "gorgeous" before instructing her to send him naked pictures of herself and arranging a meeting with her in the woods. The dad-of-two admits having engaged in sexual activity with the complainant but maintains that he believed she was aged over 16.

The girl was 13 years of age when Cameron and a number of other fire officers attended an open day at her school in order to recruit new fire cadets and as part of an ongoing project, Steven Ball told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution's opening on Tuesday.

Ed Doinog, one of the defendant's colleagues, was said to have "made an impression" on the pupils to such an extent that the teen and her friend made him a handwritten card which they later dropped off at a fire station. This letter "complimented him for the job he did" and asked a series of questions about his role, as well as containing the complainant's phone number and their ages.

But Mr Ball described how "events took something of a sinister turn" around a month later, saying: "Somehow, say the prosecution, Scott Cameron had got hold of her number and, in his messages to her, he was pretending to be someone else.

"At first, she thought it was Ed Doinog. They exchanged messages and she was complimented on looking 'gorgeous'. This attention made her feel special. But this was not a conventional or normal relationship, for obvious reasons, and there was nearly 25 years' difference in their ages.

"After a month, the defendant began asking her to send him photographs. She recalled being abroad on holiday when she was asked for bikini pictures. She ended up sending some partially dressed pictures. Further requests were made for nude photographs.

"These requests became more persistent. They turned into threats. The defendant, say the prosecution, was saying to her things like he was going to stop talking to her if she did not send 'proper ones' and that the pictures were going to get sent around. He even offered to pay her for photographs."

Cameron reportedly "told her who he actually was and asked to meet her" in woodland, around 10 months after he had first visited her school. Mr Ball added: "Quite what this married father-of-two in his late 30s was doing, firstly, pretending to be someone else then asking for nude photographs and then arranging to meet this schoolgirl will be for him to explain.

"She made it clear to Scott Cameron that she was only 13. But, members of the jury, that did not put him off, and, from the intensity and frequency of their messages and meetings, this seemed to be something that Scott Cameron relished and certainly could not resist."

The two then began meeting "regularly" and, on one occasion, she "snook out" of her house and had sex with him in his car. But she later deleted his phone number after he apparently became "argumentative" with her in his messages.

Cameron - who was based at Crosby Fire Station but had "working links" with Bootle Fire Station, Netherton Fire Station and Storrington Avenue Fire Station in Croxteth - made no comment when first interviewed by detectives.

However, during a second round of questioning he subsequently, stated that he "started to get messages on Snapchat from accounts he didn’t know" before a "female came up to him one day recognising him from her school", apparently telling him that she was a sixth form student. He then "portrayed her as being obsessive" and as having "harassed" him, while he "even suggested that she was sometimes under the influence of drugs".

The defendant maintained at this stage that "nothing sexual had happened between them", although he had been "sent some pictures which he did not request and deleted straight away". Cameron also claimed that he was not aware of the card which was sent to the fire station and denied having posed as Mr Doinog while sending messages to the girl.

Mr Ball said: "He told the police that he was a good person and that he didn’t do bad things. He emphasised that he was married with children. He said that he felt sick to the stomach about the allegations and was concerned about her mindset.

"He also told the police that she had been abused by someone else and she had asked him for some help to find the male responsible. When he refused to help her, he said that she turned nasty.

"You will be able to reflect on this and whether this is a sad indication of a young girl naively looking up to an older male for help and support. The prosecution say that, having heard all of the evidence, you will be able to conclude that Scott Cameron was not a saviour, a supporter or a soulmate but an abuser and manipulator of her."

Cameron was said to have "had access to several numbers", although he told the police that he only had one mobile - an iPhone which was seized upon his arrest. When this device was subsequently "cracked with specialist software" after he refused to detail the access code, it was found to contain a picture of the girls' card as well as a number of naked photographs of the complainant.

The court heard that "sexual contact is admitted as having happened" by the defendant, with Mr Ball telling the jury: "The focus of the trial will be on whether you are sure to reject that Scott Cameron reasonably believed that she was 16 at the time.

"The prosecution say that this was not a one-off or chance meeting where a single mistake could be made, but this is a case which is the chronicle of a man exercising his own choices, who knew exactly what he was doing and using all of his wider gained experiences as an adult to exploit an impressionable and obliging 13 or 14-year-old, a young girl who was the object of his attention."

The trial, before Judge David Swinnerton, continues, and is due to last around a week, with Cameron, who is defended by Kate Morley, denying a total of 11 sexual offences.

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