Social worker Eric Charlesworth reprimanded by General Social Care Council committee

Rugby social worker Eric Charlesworth has been cautioned by the General Social Care Council for inappropriately touching service users.

A GSCC conduct committee found him guilty of misconduct for not using his power in relation to service users responsibly and putting them at risk.

At a hearing in December, Charlesworth admitted stroking a 17-year-old service user’s hair and measuring his chest but denied his actions were inappropriate.

He also admitted sending a text message received by another service user saying he had “lined up some top totty” for him. But he claimed it had been intended for a friend.

The incidents took place from July 2004 to June 2005, when he was working as an agency social worker for Reed Social Care.

In cautioning Charlesworth, rather than barring him from working as a social worker, the committee said there was no evidence that service users had been harmed. It also said the physical contact had not been sexual.

The caution, which will remain for five years, is open to employers and service users to see on Charlesworth’s record on the socical care register.

Charlesworth has a right of appeal to the Independent Care Standards Tribunal.