Mum-of-two Megan Neilson was found to have acted inappropriately.
Megan Neilson was placed on the sex offenders’ register
A Lanarkshire carer who engaged in sexual activity with a vulnerable service user has been struck off.
Mum-of-two Megan Neilson was found to have acted inappropriately at Hamilton Sheriff Court last year. The Airdrie care worker was heard to have kissed and cuddled the man, who suffers from cerebral palsy and has a learning disability.
She was also heard to have performed a sex act on him in a car at the Falkirk Wheel. The then 29-year-old had denied the offence, but a jury found her guilty after trial.
Sheriff Linda Nicolson told Neilson at the time: “You were placed in a position of trust and undertook to care for this vulnerable person. He and his family were entitled to expect that there would be no breach of that trust.
“But you developed feelings for him and allowed matters to develop further, acting on those feelings by having sexual activity with him.
“That’s a very serious offence, and the victim’s impact statement by his mother tells of the distressing effect this had on him.”
Neilson was only spared jail because of her parental responsibilities. Sheriff Nicolson, who banned her from contacting the service user for 10 years, told Neilson: “It’s only because of the particularly detrimental effect that a custodial sentence would have on your two young children that a community-based disposal will be imposed.”
The Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) brought the care worker before a fitness to practise panel this week. In their report, the regulator wrote: “Social care workers should not form unprofessional or harmful relationships with individuals in their care.
“You failed to maintain professional boundaries by seeking to enter into a sexual relationship with AA, whom you were providing care services to. In doing so, you grossly breached the trust placed in you by AA and their family. AA was put at risk of serious emotional harm.
“The behaviour which you have been convicted of could cause emotional harm if it were to be repeated. The behaviour is fundamentally incompatible with that expected of a caring professional.
“The behaviour is highly serious, and this type of sexual offending falls under the types of cases where more serious action would be required.The nature of the behaviour raises significant concerns about your character and values. The behaviour occurred repeatedly, indicating it was planned and deliberate rather than a spontaneous one-off lapse of judgement.
“You were an experienced social care worker, having worked in care since 2016, and would have been aware of the requirement to maintain professional boundaries.c The behaviour occurred repeatedly over around a two-month period, and this shows a pattern of behaviour.
“While you accept the seriousness of the allegation, you do not accept that you acted in the manner for which you have been convicted. This limits how much weight can be attached to the insight, regret and apology demonstrated in your comments to the SSSC. The offending behaviour indicates underlying value issues. Where there is an underlying values issue, this increases the risk of the behaviour being repeated and not being capable of remediation.”
Neilson was struck off.