Conduct: Social worker barred after child porn conviction

A social worker has been removed from the social care register after being convicted of possessing and distributing indecent images of children, the General Social Care Council confirmed today.

Paul Derek Girdlestone, 48, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court on 15 February last year of three counts of distributing indecent images of children, and 22 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He was employed within a mental health team at Hampshire social services when the allegations emerged. Police found that the images were not stored on a work computer and that no-one under Girdlestone’s care had been put at risk, the GSCC said.

He is now serving a 21 month custodial sentence and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

A GSCC conduct committee today found Girdlestone guilty of misconduct and said he had breached the code of practice for social care workers.

Girdlestone, who did not attend the conduct  hearing, sent a letter to the GSCC in which he admitted misconduct and said he would not work in social care when he got out of prison.

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