Social Worker Jailed For Abusing Child

A social worker from King’s Lynn who sexually abused a 12-year-old girl had previously worked with children, it has been revealed. Kevin Mence, 42, admitted he was a paedophile after being arrested by police.

He was jailed for 16 months at Norwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to kissing the girl and rubbing her leg. He also admitted distributing and possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard some of the material found on Mence’s computer showed adults and children having sex.

Following his arrest, Mence told police that he accepted he had a problem and had looked into getting help from a group called Sex Addicts Anonymous.

“I recognise that I am a paedophile because I look at pictures of children being abused,” he told detectives.

Mence was working as an adult social worker in Cambridgeshire at the time of his arrest last summer, but had previously worked with children in Norfolk.

After the hearing, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk county councils stressed thorough checks carried out on Mence had found no history of offending.

Lisa Christensen, director of children’s services at Norfolk County Council, said: “Kevin Mence did work for children’s social services in Norfolk between October 2001 and March 2004. He then transferred to adult social services, working there for almost a year before leaving Norfolk County Council.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council said Mence resigned last month after about a year as an adult social worker.