Care worker jailed after raping profoundly disabled resident

A care worker has been jailed for six years and four months for subjecting a profoundly disabled man to repeated rape ordeals at a residential home.

Steven Watson,64, preyed on the victim, who requires 24-hour, round-the-clock care, while employed as a relief support worker with a disability charity.

The former foreign aid worker, who was previously employed overseas with charities such as Oxfam and Save the Children, was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Watson, of Skye Road, Dunfermline, carried out sexual assaults on his victim on three occasions at the residential home in Fife.

Advocate depute Jane Farquharson told the Edinburgh High Court: “He had been in this role as a support worker for 15 to 20 years.

“It is employment that saw the accused caring for some of the most vulnerable members of society, many of whom, including the complainer, have limited communication and mobility skills.”

“The role of a support worker is to attempt to make a service user’s life as normal as possible.”

She said the victim, in his 40s, has a number of physical and mental conditions.

Watson was caught raping the man on January 6 and, after initially saying it had been a consensual act, acknowledged the victim had no capacity to consent.

Watson also admitted carrying out two further sex acts on the man before Christmas.

The first-offender admitted assaulting and raping the man on three occasions between December 1 and January 6 at a residential unit.

Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin said Watson regretted his actions but still cannot explain them.

He asked the judge to take account of Watson’s previous good character and pro-social life. He said Watson still has a house in the Philippines where he had continued with voluntary work to improve the living standards of local people and help with building affordable housing.