A MEDAL-WINNING North Yorkshire paramedic has been jailed for six-and-a-half years for turning a schoolgirl into his "sexual plaything".

Child molester Ronald Desmond Evans, 47, bought a camper van with curtains so he could carry out his frequent abuse unseen, York Crown Court heard.

The paramedic, who was awarded the Queen's Medal for good conduct and long service, used his lunch breaks to further his years of abuse, during which he introduced her to a sex aid and pornographic material.

Evans, now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one charge of rape and four of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl of secondary school age.

"There are sadly two sides to you," Judge Paul Hoffman told him. "Outwardly you are a man of eminently good character and I take into account your service to the community.

"But behind closed doors, it has to be said, you were a child molester.

"To satisfy your lust over a period of at least three years, you turned this immature girl into a sexual plaything."

He jailed Evans for six -and-a-half years and put him on the sex offenders' register for life.

Evans told his barrister, Dan Edwards, about jail: "I deserve every day, I deserve it," the court heard.

Prosecuting, David Bradshaw said the abuse began when the girl was too young to fully appreciate what Evans was doing to her and developed into a "habit".

He had unprotected sex with her, telling her she would not get pregnant because he had had a vasectomy.

Eventually the girl told a teacher who contacted social services.

Evans told police he had used lunch breaks for his sex sessions.

Mr Edwards said Evans went to the police when he heard the girl had "blown the whistle" on him and confessed.

His 27 years of service as a paramedic earned him the Queen's Medal.

He had never forced himself on the girl and the probation service had assessed he was unlikely to molest a child, providing he carried out rehabilitation tests in prison.

Evans joined what was then North Yorkshire Ambulance Service in 1997 from Birmingham and was based in the Whitby area. He was immediately suspended from duty when the offences came to light and is now no longer with the service.

Updated: 10:56 Tuesday, October 02, 2001