A FORMER council officer and special constable already in prison for sexually abusing a teenager has been sentenced to a further eight years for sexually abusing another young boy.

David Cager was working in the council highways department when he groomed schoolboys, telling one he wanted to show him how to restrain people and then sexually assaulting him.

Cager was a special constable for 13 years until 1993 and worked at the council depot in Hollingdean Road, Brighton, where both victims said they had been abused when he was working as an out-of-hours emergency officer in the highways department.

In the latest conviction the court heard he had groomed a schoolboy and committed the offences between 1993 and 1996, during which time the youngster was just beginning his secondary school education.

The victim went to the police after reading press coverage of the previous Cager conviction in May 2015, when he was found guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing another boy under the age of 16 between 2003 and 2004.

A statement read out in court yesterday on behalf of the victim from the new convictions said: “I felt so guilty because I allowed what I went through to happen to another child.

“My safe place was taken away from me.

“I tormented myself and wondered if what I went through was normal.

“I believe you should never be free again.

“Despite the pain you caused me I am proud of myself for what I have achieved in my life.

“I was bullied at school for years about it and my confidence over the years has been up and down.

“I refuse to allow myself to be a victim anymore.”

Cager, who is currently serving a nine year term in Lewes Prison, was sentenced to another eight years at Hove Crown Court.

The 63-year-old was convicted by a jury of seven counts, comprising two counts of indecent assault and five counts of gross indecency with a child.

During the sentencing, Judge Christine Henson QC said to Cager: “The only person responsible for these evil actions is you.

“These offences are of such gravity that they can’t be ignored.

“His life will be changed forever by your offending.”

Appearing for sentencing via video link, Cager told the court that he was suffering from a number of illnesses, including depression, bowel cancer, diabetes and that he was also being considered for an MRI scan due to the belief he may be suffering from the onset of dementia.

He opted for no legal representation throughout the trial and did not appear in court to give evidence, saying that he had fallen over and was not fit to make it at the time, despite medical experts concluding he was fit to attend court.

The court heard that the abuse suffered by his victim over a three year period began when Cager showed the boy some “restraint techniques he had been taught as a special constable”, before the unwanted sexual contact started.

Brighton and Hove City Council chief executive Penny Thompson previously said that Cager was dismissed in 2012.

She said he did not ordinarily have contact with the children and his post did not require a CRB background check.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order made during the previous sentencing will remain in place.

Cager will also stay on the sex offenders register and upon future release will not be allowed unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16.