Fifteen sexual misconduct cases dealt with

SCOTLAND’S charity regulator has dealt with 15 cases of alleged sexual misconduct within the sector in the past two years.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) said the cases – known as “notifiable events” – were “mostly historical”, and none have resulted in a formal inquiry.

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf) is the only Scottish charity working in- ternationally to have reported allegations, the watchdog said.

OSCR said six of the notifiable events were notifications that charities are involved in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and are being dealt with as part of that process.

The police were contacted at the appropriate stage in all of the remaining nine cases – including the two Sciaf cases.

Four of the cases have been concluded, with the remaining five at various stages.

Sciaf confirmed earlier this week it has dealt with two cases of alleged sexual misconduct involving children.

One case involved the alleged rape in 2012 of a 15-year-old girl by a 45-year-old Burundian man who volunteered for a local partner organisation.

The other case centred on an Ethiopian man who worked in the shared office of Sciaf and its sister UK and Irish aid charities Cafod and Trocaire in 2016 when he was accused of sexual misconduct with a boy aged under 16.

The way in which charities deal with allegations of misconduct and abuse has come under scrutiny in the wake of the Oxfam scandal.

The organisation has been accused of concealing the findings of an inquiry into claims staff used prostitutes while delivering aid in Haiti in 2011.