To think this social worker should have been struck off?

[SilencednotSilent]

www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/child-social-worker-banned-year-20302285.amp?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar&__twitter_impression=true

He was given a one year suspension, instead of being removed from the register, for engaging in sexual activity with a schoolgirl he let drink vodka. He had been watching pornography and masturbating in a communal area before the act.

Their logic? “The panel is satisfied that a well-informed and reasonable member of the public...would not require an otherwise capable, committed and experienced social worker to be removed from the register in these circumstances."

The decision by Social Work England: www.socialworkengland.org.uk/media/3704/decision-kershaw-s.pdf

AIBU?

@SilencednotSilent

*Try reading what I said again if there is parity of age and no power differential*

Hasn’t the conversation derailed then if you are adding information not relevant to this case?

No, because I was responding to someone else who posted about 'statutory rape' I wasn't responding to you or the OP so I'm not sure why you are responding as if I was.

I think the conversation derailed right from the start but the facts appear to be the following

He was a social worker
He gave a child alcohol
In that same evening he masturbated to pornography in a communal space where he and that child were living at the time. The child witnessed this
She sucked his penis.

Am I missing anything here? Because everything in this report has utterly minimised this traumatic sequence of events. If he was an Asian taxi driver ....

I think your post is spot on @welliesarefuntowear this young person has been completely missed in the whole thing. It doesn’t matter whether he was at work or not his behaviour is appalling and utterly inappropriate for any adult, much less someone in social work.

@welliesarefuntowear

I think the conversation derailed right from the start but the facts appear to be the following

He was a social worker
He gave a child alcohol
In that same evening he masturbated to pornography in a communal space where he and that child were living at the time. The child witnessed this
She sucked his penis.

Am I missing anything here? Because everything in this report has utterly minimised this traumatic sequence of events. If he was an Asian taxi driver ....

100% I am disgusted that he kept his registration after this. It doesn't matter that he wasn't working when it happened.

No, because I was responding to someone else who posted about 'statutory rape'
I wasn't responding to you or the OP so I'm not sure why you are responding as if I was.

No worries. For someone not following the thread, it looks as though what he did wasn’t charged as rape, and I do think there was some confusion there.

• I think the conversation derailed right from the start but the facts appear to be the following

He was a social worker
He gave a child alcohol
In that same evening he masturbated to pornography in a communal space where he and that child were living at the time. The child witnessed this
She sucked his penis.

Am I missing anything here? Because everything in this report has utterly minimised this traumatic sequence of events. If he was an Asian taxi driver ....*

Agreed. If he was a woman, he would’ve definitely gotten struck off for the drink driving offenses alone. For the young girl to have had the courage to report him only to be disbelieved and for him to even keep his license is heartbreaking.

@Jellycatspyjamas

I think your post is spot on *@welliesarefuntowear* this young person has been completely missed in the whole thing. It doesn’t matter whether he was at work or not his behaviour is appalling and utterly inappropriate for any adult, much less someone in social work.

Frankly, as a social worker, if I’d received a call reporting this incident, I’d fully expect child protection procedures to be put in place immediately and stringent measures taken to safeguard that child, and I find it interesting there’s no mention of this whatsoever, nor of any LADO enquiry.

I simply cannot imagine any circumstance which mitigates his behaviour at all and he should absolutely have been struck off at a minimum.

BTW I 100% think he should have been struck off. Without a doubt.

If I’d received a call reporting this incident, I’d fully expect child protection procedures to be put in place immediately and stringent measures taken to safeguard that child,*

Sadly we don’t need to look to far to find professionals attitudes towards teenage girls that are positively dismissive about their experiences of sexual exploitation, naming them as promiscuous or having made a choice to engage in sexual activity. Too many times professionals have ignored vulnerability of teenagers to the detriment of their safety. I’d like to think social workers would put stringent safeguards in place, but I know a good few who wouldn’t.