Firefighter 'had sex with schoolgirl after pretending to be colleague she met at her school open day'

A firefighter from Liverpool had sex with a teenage girl in his car after meeting her during a school open day, a court has heard. Scott Cameron, an officer at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday accused of a series of child sex offences.

The 39-year-old is accused of telling the schoolgirl that she was "gorgeous" before telling her to send him naked pictures of herself and arranging a meeting with her in woodland. The dad-of-two from of Harewell Road in Norris Green, Liverpool, admits having engaged in sexual activity with the complainant but maintains that he believed she was aged over 16.

Steven Ball told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution's opening on Tuesday (November 26) that the girl was 13 years of age when Cameron, alongside 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.

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One of the defendant's colleagues, Ed Doinog, 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 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, reports the Liverpool Echo.

"At first, she thought it was Ed Doinog. They exchanged messages and