A care worker who had a sexual relationship with a vulnerable 16-year-old boy after exchanging explicit messages with him has avoided jail. Kayleigh Martin, 26, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, carried out sex acts with the boy after being handed his case at a residential centre which supports troubled teenagers and young adults.
Bosses called in police when her relationship with the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, came to light – and she was arrested last July.
Martin denied all wrongdoing at Lanark Sheriff Court, but she was convicted of engaging in sexual activity with the teenager while in a position of trust and sending a sexual communication.
She was told to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and given a two-year supervision order by Sheriff Nikola Stewart who criticised her ‘appalling behaviour’ and said she was ‘foolish’.
Martin, who now works in retail, had been a registered residential child care worker with the Scottish Social Services Council, which is based in Dundee.
But she was placed on the sex offenders’ register for two years and banned from contacting the boy.
Her lawyer said her career in social services was over for good. Sheriff Stewart said: ‘This was a serious relationship regardless of what she thought it was.
‘He is a young man who has an attractive, caring young woman who was giving him a highly unusual amount of attention and the warning bells should have been ringing much earlier. I don’t think she is predatory but is someone who is naive and foolish.