Army Cadet Leaders Dennis Bowie and Alice McElhinney guilty of child sexual abuse
On 1st June 2021, Bexhill Army Cadet Leaders Dennis Bowie and Alice McElhinney were jailed for sexually abusing cadets.
They had messaged each other hundreds of time describing how they wanted to sexually abuse the cadets in their care.
Bowie was a detachment commander of the Bexhill Army Cadet group. He used this position to groom and then abuse children.
At Lewes Crown Court, the judge described the offending as a breach of trust, commenting:
“It’s an abuse of trust by her family and the trust placed in them by the cadets…. It was almost as if they were playthings.”
Bowie admitted offences including three counts of making indecent images of children, one of sexual communication with a child and two of sexual activity with a child.
He was sentenced to five years and two months in prison.
McElhinney admitted to one count of sexual communication with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child.
She was sentenced to a total of three years and nine months in prison.
