A SOCIAL worker has been struck off after he was convicted of making indecent images of children.

Shaun Devlin regularly used the dark web from 2014 to 2017 to find indecent photographs, pseudo images and videos of youngsters.

The former Durham County Council employee admitted using his mobile phone– never council equipment– to view the images whilst at home and earlier this year was sentenced for four offences at court.

The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service’s conduct and competence committee, which met in London on Tuesday, heard that Devlin had been employed as a social worker by Durham County Council since 2002.

On May 24, 2017 his bosses were contacted by Northumbria Police and told by officers that Devlin had been interviewed and admitted accessing indecent images. He never used council equipment to do so.

The council immediately began disciplinary proceedings and his was subsequently sacked.

On February 16 he pleaded guilty to four charges covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978 at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court and returned a month later to be sentenced.

He was given three year community order for each offence, to run concurrently, and a tagged curfew for six months. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order until 2023.

The panel heard that he not only viewed stills but also videos, including a number of category As– which are the most serious level of image.

The sentencing judge had described specifically aggravating factors to be that the children were very young– between three and eight years old– and their obvious vulnerability.

He had though, pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and voluntarily sought help from child protection charity Stop It Now to address his behaviour.

Devlin had stated: “I acknowledge the harm done to the reputation of my profession and I am truly sorry about that.

“If in my recovery and undertaking of community punishment order I can help other offenders appreciate the level of harm and abuse that involvement in the dark side of the internet can cause then maybe some good may arise from my life.”

Devlin did not appear before the panel and was not represented.

He had previously agreed with the suspension of his registration and said he did not plan any future employment within social work.

The panel said the role of a social worker is to interact with members of the public, including children, when they are acutely vulnerable and to protect them from abuse, not to support its perpetration.

Deciding the only appropriate sanction was to strike off Devlin, it concluded: “Having regard to all the matters it identified, including the deliberate and sustained course of conduct and, in particular, the effect of the Registrants convictions bringing the profession into disrepute by adversely affecting the public’s view of how a social worker should conduct himself, the panel concluded that nothing less would be sufficient in this case.”

An interim suspension order was imposed to allow for the possibility of an appeal to be made and determined but if Devlin does not do so within 28 days of the decision, it will be replaced by the striking off order.  

Lee Alexander, head of adult care at Durham County Council, said: “All of our social workers go through an extensive recruitment process and thorough checks before joining our workforce. This includes an enhanced DBS disclosure.

“When we were made aware of the offences committed by Shaun Devlin we immediately initiated our disciplinary processes and he was subsequently dismissed from his post and referred to his regulatory body with a view to his social work registration being removed.”