Therapist had sex relations with her patient

AMARRIED occupational therapist who was caught engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient has been jailed.

Grandmother- of- three Valerie McLeod, of Belgrave Street, Rising Bridge, ‘kissed and cuddled’ the victim, touched him over his clothes and allowed him to perform sex acts on her, Burnley Crown Court heard.

McLeod, 53, was caught after staff became ‘increasingly concerned’ and an internal investigation uncovered ‘extremely intimate’ letters written to the victim.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a man with a mental disorder by a care worker, and one count of causing sexual activity with a man with a mental disorder by a care worker.

She was jailed for six months and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The court heard how staff became ‘increasingly concerned’ over the ‘disproportionate amount of time’ she was spending with the victim.

An investigation later found letters sent to McLeod ‘suggesting marriage’ and Pandora gift cards as a thank you for her work.

Susan Carter, prosecuting, told the court that ‘situations were engineered so that they could be on a one-to-one basis’ and that McLeod became ‘very concerned about what they were doing and that she could lose her job’.

The prosecutor said one of the ‘extremely intimate’ letters revealed that McLeod had given the victim viagra, but that at no stage during the relationship had the pair engaged in sexual intercourse.

Miss Carter said McLeod ‘used a range of covert strategies’ to meet the victim and that in doing so ‘ she neglected the welfare of other service users and increased risk to herself and her colleagues’.

Philip Holden, defending, said McLeod ‘has lost a great deal as a result of her actions’.

He told the court: “She has lost her good name, lost her job and a job which in later life she trained for and studied for and a job which she very much enjoyed and cherished.

“What really shines out is that it is very, very unlikely that this defendant will ever appear before the courts again.

“Plainly she was in a position of responsibility and it ought not to have happened.

“If ever there was a defendant who has had enormous punishment out of her actions then surely it must be this defendant.”

Judge Jonathan Gibson said there was a ‘breach of trust’ and ‘immediate custody must follow’.

Sentencing, he said: “By doing what you did you overstepped the bound- ary between professional and client and even though the victim appears to have wanted the sexual activity with you, what you did had a detrimental effect on his mental health and treatment, causing difficulties and tensions with others and reinforcing a belief that this sort of activity was legitimate.

“You were caught by the intimate nature of the letters that you had written to the victim.

“You did engineer times when you could be alone with the victim.

“Immediate custody must follow in my view, if only to mark both publicly and forcefully society’s disapproval of someone in your position engaging in sexual activity with a client, with all its consequences.”