Counselling demand over child porn carer

AN ANGRY mum today called for Doncaster Council to provide counselling to familes whose children were looked after by a carer convicted of child porn offences.

The mother, who has asked not to be named, is the parent of one of a number of disabled youngsters who was taken on trips out by Michael Tombs while he was working for the authority.

Tombs, aged 33, of Thorne, pleaded guilty at Doncaster Crown Court to five counts of making indecent pictures of children including one rated as level five – the most shocking kind – and 55 classified as level four.

The court heard Tombs downloaded the pictures from the internet while employed by the council’s Children’s Disability Service.

The mum, whose daughter was taken on organised trips involving Tombs, is calling for action and is angry that parents were not told of Tombs’ conviction before it appeared in the press.

There is no suggestion of any offences against the children taken on the trips.

She said: “I’m not happy with the way we’ve not been given any support from the council. My daughter was in a group which was taken out by him, and I think it is disgraceful that social services did not come to us earlier.

“We’ve only heard about this through the newspapers.The families should be given counselling about this. We should be getting more support from social services. Instead we’re being treated like we’re overreacting.”

She has spoken about the issue with Doncaster Council Community Group leader Coun Martin Williams, who is backing her call.

He said: “There should be a contact number for people to ring to get help or counselling. This is a pretty serious matter.”

Tombs worked for the council taking youngsters on visits ranging from local cinema and bowling to trips to seaside and theme parks.

He was employed by Doncaster Council’s Children’s Disability Service as a sessional worker between May 2003 and March 2008. He resigned in March 2008 due to ill health.

A spokesperson for the council’s children’s services department said: “We have been making every effort to notify those families who have had contact with Michael Tombs.

“We made stringent checks and there was no way anyone could have known about this hidden side of his character.

“Mr Tombs was a well-known childcare specialist who worked with a variety of local authorities. Prior to him starting work with the council we carried out a full CRB check and received two positive references – one from the Managing Director of his employer at the time and one from the head of a nursery school.”

South Yorkshire Police, who issued a warrant for Tombs’ arrest after gathering intelligence from the Child Exploitation Online Protection Agency, said in a statement: “No children were directly in danger. No children in his care were ‘hands-on’ victims.”