Social worker removed for accessing pornography at work

A social worker has been removed from the social care register for frequently accessing pornography at work during his time employed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London.

From around May 2006 until October 2008, Timothy Connell frequently accessed porn using the internet at work, including cartoon images of both children and adults in sexual poses, photographic images of adults in sexual poses and both moving images of adults in sexual poses as well as moving images of adults representing children in sexual poses.

A conduct committee found Mr Connell guilty of misconduct after hearing his own admission and reviewing evidence produced by the General Social Care Council. They also found the allegations to be sexually motivated, to which Connell agreed.

“It is not acceptable under any circumstances for a social worker intentionally to access pornographic material within the workplace during work hours,” the committee said.

“The committee was particularly concerned that significant parts of the registrant’s working days were spent accessing internet pornography,” the statement continued. “Some of the material included images of children and moving images of adults representing children, which the committee found abhorrent.”

The committee took account of the fact that Connell was, prior to these events, of good character and his current employer had no concerns about his use of the internet. The committee was also impressed by Connell’s commitment to attendance at therapy sessions aimed at addressing his behaviour.

However, it deemed the behaviour to be “fundamentally incompatible” with continuing to be registered as a social care worker and removed Connell from the social care register.