Support worker jailed for sexual activity with boy, 15

A support worker who was meant to be caring for a vulnerable teenage boy has been sentenced after sending him sexual images and kissing him.

Chloe Short, 28, from Sycamore Court in Bargoed, worked as a support worker for a vulnerable 15-year-old boy and his family. Her role included staying overnight at the family’s home in Carmarthenshire to provide respite care.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Short began messaging the teenager inappropriately, with the pair exchanging messages saying they loved each other and Short telling him she missed him. The contact escalated when she sent him a photograph of herself wrapped in just a towel after getting out of the shower.

Prosecutor Ian Wright told the court the pair also took a picture together whilst lying in bed – with the boy’s top off. In one message to the teenager, Short wrote: ‘Thank you for the cuddles. Had a lush sleep with you’.

The court was told they filmed themselves sharing what Mr Wright described as “a short sexual kiss”.

Short’s behaviour was exposed when her partner grew suspicious and checked her phone. After discovering the messages and video, she immediately contacted Short’s employers, leading to the defendant’s arrest in the early hours of the following morning.

When first questioned, Short denied kissing the victim but later pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child. She had no previous convictions.

Defence barrister Rose Glanville told the court Short was “under absolutely no illusion” that her behaviour was “a gross abuse of trust”. The court heard the offending wasn’t driven by sexual attraction to children, but rather Short was assessed as “trauma bonding” with the victim due to her own “difficult” background involving social services and the care system. Ms Glanville explained Short’s initial denials stemmed from “shame and embarrassment”.

Passing sentence, Judge Huw Rees told Short: “What happened shouldn’t have happened. He was the child. He was 15 – almost half your age. You were the support worker. He would have put his trust in you and you rejected that trust by abusing him in this way. What you did was very inappropriate.”

Short received a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. She must complete a 12-month mental health treatment programme, carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, and attend 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

She will be on the sex offender register for 10 years and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.