North Wales carer sent sexually motivated texts about girls

Messages sent by Mr Cross detailed his fantasies and were passed to the police

A children's care home worker told people he fantasised in graphic terms about having sex with young girls, a fitness to practise hearing has found.

A three-person Social Care Wales panel found eight charges against Thomas Philip Cross proved.

Mr Cross, 28, was a residential carer at a home for vulnerable boys of secondary school age from 2018.

He has been issued with a removal order and will no long be able to work in regulated social care in Wales.

Mr Cross was already subject to an interim order preventing him from carrying out such work because of the case against him and the "disposal" is the strictest measure that can be imposed.

The panel noted the positive work Mr Cross had done in his role at the residential home for vulnerable boys but said that was outweighed by other factors, including the significant impact his behaviour had on public trust, his lack of insight and remorse for the way he had behaved, his drinking and the way it lowered his inhibitions.

Referring to the sexual messages and conversations about his desire to have sex with young girls, the chairwoman said: "The fantasies demonstrated attitudes that are fundamentally incompatible with work with children."

Mr Cross did not attend the remote hearing, nor was he represented.

'Highly inappropriate'

He was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate phone and text conversations in November and December 2019, with someone known as Person A, with whom he was having a relationship.

In these conversations, Mr Cross outlined his fantasies about having sex with young girls.

This was repeated in February and March 2020 with a former girlfriend, known as Person B.

Panel chairwoman Farida Aslam said it was "abundantly clear" that Mr Cross had been talking about having sex with a child and described the language he used as "highly inappropriate".

Person B contacted the police about Mr Cross's comments.

On Monday the hearing was told North Wales Police had investigated, but found no evidence Mr Cross had acted on these fantasies, and no criminal changes were brought.

Four charges alleging Mr Cross had text and phone conversations with Person A and Person B, on two separate occasions with each, were all found proved.

An allegation that he was dishonest and, or, lacking integrity was also found proved, as was a charge that the inappropriate messages and conversations were sexually motivated.

Drink driving charge

The panel also decided Mr Cross had provided false and, or, misleading information to both his employer and Social Care Wales about a drink driving conviction in 2011.

He had been arrested on a slip road to the Mersey tunnels in a car with burst tyres and damaged suspension, but told his employer he was charged after being found in his parked car with the engine running so he could use the heater to keep warm.

The panel said that what he had told his employers at the home and Social Care Wales in his registration application were "manifestly different" to the real circumstances of his conviction.

Delme Griffiths, who has presented the case to the panel on behalf of Social Care Wales, had asked the panel to find that the details of the case show that Mr Cross was unfit to practise on the grounds of his serious misconduct.