Paedophile left to babysit children, review finds

A couple who had previously been jailed for child cruelty allowed a man who turned out to be a convicted paedophile to babysit two of their children, a review has found.

The couple had their first five children removed in another local authority area before moving to Blackpool in 2017, where they had two more babies.

However, the babies remained in their care after the mother lied to health staff about her previous children - and stayed with their parents despite two police referrals to social services in March and April 2023.

Blackpool Council said it accepted there had been "inadequate communication" with the other local authority area but that recommended changes had already been made.

The case was explored in a review by Blackpool's Local Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA).

It found that social services became aware that the parents had lied in June 2023, and requested more information from the other local authority, but the parents claimed they had only had two previous children adopted and "were different people now".

The full details of their history with social services were finally received in late September 2023 and an online meeting was requested, but the parents did not attend.

Victoria Gent, chair of MASA and director of children's services at Blackpool Council, said: "Sadly, there will be circumstances where the true picture and concerning background information is not known in a timely manner."

The review heard that school staff had been concerned about the older of the two children, referred to as Child B, displaying "sexualised behaviour" towards other children, staff and dolls.

In October 2023 a parents evening was held where both the mother and father attended without their children.

When asked who was looking after them, the parents "avoided giving an answer".

The following day, staff asked Child B, then aged four, who had been looking after him and his two-year-old sibling, Child C, and he gave the name of a man.

The school contacted a social worker who spoke to the mother about Child B's sexualised behaviour and asked who the man was.

The mother said the boy may have accidentally seen his parents having sex, and said she had got to know the man at work.

She said she did not have his full name and date-of-birth, and was asked to get them.

A few days later Child B told staff at his school of behaviour clearly amounting to abuse by the man.

The social worker and Lancashire Police were informed and that day found out the full background of the babysitter.

Checks revealed he had been released from a 13-year prison sentence for child sexual offences in 2022 and had strict conditions, including a court order preventing him from unsupervised contact with children.

The review said no evidence had been found that the parents were aware of his background.

The man had initially been monitored with lie-detecting polygraph tests, but his risk was downgraded by the Probation Service in early 2023 after no concerns were raised.

The review stated: "He exhibited highly manipulative behaviour which masked his vulnerability to re-offending."

The man was arrested and the children were removed from their parents and placed into the care of the local authority.

The review found that Lancashire Police had raised concerns a few months earlier after one of the children was found wandering around the community in his nappy unsupervised, however the case was closed after a social worker visited and found no major concerns.

A second referral was made after a call-out to the family home due to a domestic incident, but the parents said the call had been made by mistake.

The review found those referrals contained details of the parents' previous convictions for child cruelty, but the information was not added to the social services file "due to internal error".

Gent added: "The recommendations clearly identify inadequate communication between Blackpool agencies and partnership agencies located elsewhere in the country.

"This led to missed opportunities to provide background information to ensure these children were safeguarded at the earliest possible opportunity.

"As a result, six key recommendations and learning points have been agreed by the MASA partnership and are being implemented."

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