Social worker struck off for having lewd images of little children

A SOCIAL worker who downloaded four indecent images of children for his own sexual gratification has been struck off.

Michael Robert Paton was formerly employed by Newport Council.

A CCW hearing panel said if he had been allowed to continue to work as a social worker it would have put children at risk.

Paton, who chaired child protection conferences, searched for the terms “kiddie sex” and “paedo” on peer-to-peer sharing sites.

Banning him from the profession, hearing panel chairman Islwyn Jones said Mr Paton’s values were “fundamentally at odds with the social care profession”.

Mr Jones said: “Mr Paton deliberately looked for and downloaded pictures of sexual conduct, meaning he would have known that children had been abused.

“He has perpetuated the abuse of children and he hasn’t shown any insight or regret.”

The committee heard that Mr Paton told his then boss that he didn’t understand why police were asking questions about a picture of a naked three-year-old found on his computer.

The panel heard that while police investigations were ongoing, Mr Paton, who was suspended from his job, had meetings with Newport Council’s head of children’s services, Sally Jenkins.

At one of these meetings he appeared “aggressive and agitated” about the police investigation, Ms Jenkins told the hearing.

“He could not understand the issue with having a picture of a naked three-year-old,” she said.

The committee decided that Mr Paton did possess four indecent images of children on his personal computer. He had denied all the allegations against him.