GSCC: Social worker barred for sexually abusing his son

A social worker from the north of England has been removed from the social care register following a ruling by a General Social Care Council conduct committee that he had sexually abused his son.

The social worker, referred to as Mr Y in order to protect the child’s identity, denied the charge at the hearing.

The allegation arose from a disclosure made by the son, referred to as ‘A’, to his grandparents. Although Mr Y had been the subject of a subsequent police investigation the CPS had decided not to go ahead with a criminal prosecution.

Balance of probabilities decision

But after hearing evidence from A’s mother, his grandparents and PC Martin Yeates, who had interviewed A in relation to the allegation, the committee gave the unanimous verdict that Mr Y had “on the balance of probabilities” abused his son.

The committee said that his actions had caused serious harm to the boy, that he had abused his position of trust and that he had demonstrated a lack of insight into the seriousness of his actions. He was removed from the social care register with immediate effect.

GSCC chair Rosie Varley commented: “Fortunately, cases of misconduct are rare and the majority of the 80,000 registered social workers provide high quality care each and every day to sometimes extremely vulnerable members of our communities.”

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