A care worker who was jailed for sexually abusing a child he was supposed to be looking after at a home in Dundee has been struck off.
Michael Wilkinson admitted having sex with the girl, then aged 16, on multiple occasions between August and September 2019.
The 32-year-old would have sex with the child, sometimes unprotected, in a living room, while other residents and staff were sleeping.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told how Wilkinson was employed as a social care officer by Dundee City Council.
Jailed for 17 months
On June 15, Wilkinson was locked up for 17 months, and placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.
The court was told the child was a voluntary resident at the unit and described how Wilkinson watched television with the child in her bedroom before he began to touch her.
He got the child to lie beside him on a couch before having unprotected sex with her.
On another occasion, he had sex with the girl after going to her room to speak to her about his personal life.
‘Tried to be quiet’ while abusing girl
The girl described how, on another occasion, Wilkinson was “trying to be quiet” while having sex with her on a couch.
During a final incident, the girl took a photo of Wilkinson lying next to her under a quilt.
His conduct came to light after the girl disclosed details to her family. She denied to police anything inappropriate had happened but later confided in a support worker.
Police interviewed Wilkinson, who denied having sex with the child and sending messages. However, Wilkinson’s DNA was found on a pair of shorts the girl had been wearing during one of the incidents.
Wilkinson, of Cleghorn Street, Dundee, pled guilty to, while being in a position of trust, having sex with a voluntary resident at a children’s unit, attempting to place her hand on his privates and repeatedly touching her on the body between August 15 and September 8 2019.
A ban was imposed on Wilkinson from working in the profession from today, Thursday August 19.
A Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) officer said in their report: “You committed a serious sexual offence against a young person in your care, which is likely to have caused them serious harm.
‘An ongoing risk to the public’
“This was an abuse of the position of trust you were in and is indicative of deep-seated attitudinal issues. The behaviour which led to your conviction is fundamentally incompatible with continued professional registration.
“If you were to remain registered, there would be an ongoing risk to public protection and the wider public interest.”
‘Pattern of behaviour’
Factors of concern listed by the watchdog included that Wilkinson was aware the child was vulnerable, and that his conduct took place at his workplace.
It was also noted there was “a pattern of behaviour over a two-month period”, rather than it being an isolated incident.
He was removed from the SSSC Register for Residential Child Care Workers indefinitely.