CARER HANDED COMMUNITY ORDER FOR SHOWING EXPLICIT IMAGES TO VULNERABLE MAN
A caregiver was found to have taken explicit photographs of herself and then showed them to a vulnerable young man with learning difficulties.Mollie Jane Edwards, aged 24 and formerly residing in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, received a two-year community order and was instructed to participate in specialised courses organised by the Probation Service aimed at addressing her distorted sexual thoughts.
The victim, who was 20 years old and had a mental age of approximately 10, was shown the images in March 2019 during a visit to a center for young people with learning difficulties in Gwynedd.
Now living in Devon, Edwards admitted to wilfully neglecting a person while working as a care worker at that center.
She initially denied the charge, and although she was scheduled for trial at Caernarfon Crown Court last month, she requested to be re-arraigned shortly before the proceedings.
Judge Huw Rees said: "You knew how vulnerable this young man was and to show such pictures to him was not only wrong, but very wrong." The judge also mentioned that a pre-sentence report indicated Edwards had not fully acknowledged the seriousness of her actions.
As part of her sentence, Edwards was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, participate in a 35-day program, and attend 45 sessions of rehabilitative activities.
During the hearing, defense lawyer Elen Owen stated that Edwards felt a significant sense of embarrassment and shame over her behaviour and urged the court to consider her age, her previous good conduct, and her loss of employment.
Prosecutor James Coutts explained that the incident came to light after the victim asked other carers to access a social media website.
When they refused, he revealed that Edwards had shown him images, claiming they depicted naked breasts and private parts.
He further stated that Edwards had shown him images of a car on three different occasions.
Following this, police seized and examined Edwards' mobile phone.
Although she denied showing the images, she could not explain how the victim's description matched what was on her phone.
Investigations revealed that the images were taken in Dolgellau in 2017, an area where Edwards was living at the time.
Additionally, her phone history included visits to adult pornography sites.
