A children’s mental health charity in Scotland has raised concerns that the police had not told it that one of its employees had been charged with sexual offences.
The BBC reports that Morgan Prior was hired by Place2Be in April 2021, a month after he had been charged with rape and sexual assault.
Place2Be said it was only informed of the offences more than two years later when he was convicted of two serious sexual offences in the High Court on 5 June this year.
The charity said it immediately put its critical incident procedures into place, and terminated his employment.
Charity not notified about charges
The charity carried out a review of its processes in the recruitment of Prior.
“We are confident that at each stage, process was followed in line with our approved safeguarding procedures,” it states.
The charity confirmed that his employment references and security checks, including the protecting vulnerable groups check (PVG) conducted by Disclosure Scotland with Police Scotland, came back completely clear.
Moreover, no alerts were raised by Disclosure Scotland ahead of making him a job offer, and none were received subsequently.
“In line with all organisations, our employees are required to give truthful answers to the questions put to them at application and through the interview process; and to inform their employer if they are charged with any offence. This individual did not disclose this information to us at any point,” it added.
Place2B contacted Disclosure Scotland and Police Scotland to understand why Place2Be was not notified about the charges against Prior.
Disclosure Scotland said they could only reveal information that was shared by Police Scotland, who has decided not to disclose this information.
The charity added: “We accept that the right to a fair trial includes the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, we are concerned by the implications of Police Scotland choosing not to disclose the information in this case. All organisations working with children and vulnerable people will want assurance from Disclosure Scotland and Police Scotland that the PVG system is robust and fit for purpose.”
Police Scotland to ‘conduct a wider review’
The charity contacted Police Scotland, and on 20 June 2023 received a written response.
In their letter, the charity said, Police Scotland acknowledged the legitimate public concern around the Prior case, along with the importance of maintaining public confidence in the application of the PVG scheme.
A statement from the charity reads: “Police Scotland confirm that they considered the disclosure of Prior’s non-conviction information on various occasions and reached their decision not to disclose the information after applying their tests to the facts and having conducted a peer review.
“They confirm that there have been a number of discussions around this case and that they will conduct a wider review of the current thresholds for disclosure of non-conviction information, which will be carried out in conjunction with Disclosure Scotland. This review will also consider any learnings from the case.
“We are encouraged by this commitment and have responded to say we welcome the opportunity to offer our input into this review process.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police Scotland has confidence in the PVG scheme, and our application of the necessary tests regarding relevancy, accuracy, necessity, currency, proportionality, and the impact on the human rights of applicants, PVG scheme members and others.
“We have engaged with relevant organisations to address concerns with regards to this case.
“As a result, we are undertaking a wider review of the current thresholds for disclosure of non-conviction information, working alongside Disclosure Scotland.
“This review will consider any learning from this case, and to ensure our collective and whole system approach to disclosure of such information maintains public confidence and also reflects the most up to date case law in relation to such matters.”
Place2B has also notified the Charity Commission, OSCR and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy of this incident.
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