The children’s mental health charity Place2Be has expressed concern at not being told by police that one of its employees had been charged with serious sexual offences, resulting in it to continue employing him for more than a year.
Morgan Prior was hired by the charity in April 2021, a month after he was charged with rape and sexual assault.
He continued for more than a year in the charity’s employment, where he worked as a mental health counsellor, until Place2Be was made aware on 5 June this year that Prior had been found guilty of raping one woman and seriously sexually assaulting another in 2010.
He was immediately dismissed by the charity, which subsequently wrote to Police Scotland to understand why Place2Be was not notified about the charges against Prior.
“On 20 June 2023, we received a written response from Police Scotland to our correspondence,” the charity said in a statement.
“In their letter, they acknowledge the legitimate public concern around the Morgan Prior case; along with the importance of maintaining public confidence in the application of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups scheme.”
The PVG scheme is managed by Disclosure Scotland and is designed to help ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with these vulnerable groups.
The charity continued: “Disclosure Scotland said it could only reveal information that was shared by Police Scotland. Police Scotland have informed us that they took an active decision not to disclose this information – and that they stand by this decision.
“We accept that the right to a fair trial includes the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“However, we are concerned by the implications of Police Scotland choosing not to disclose the information in this case. All organisations working with children and vulnerable people will want assurance from Disclosure Scotland and Police Scotland that the PVG system is robust and fit for purpose.”
Place2Be added that it was keen to work with Police Scotland and Disclosure Scotland to minimise the potential for something similar happening in the future.
Asked if the charity had any advice for other charities off the back of its experience, a spokeswoman said she was not sure whether there were any such lessons to share because the charity had done “everything by the book”.
According to its statement, this included ensuring that Prior had completely clear employment references and security checks, including the PVG check conducted by Disclosure Scotland with Police Scotland; and ensuring that no alerts were raised by Disclosure Scotland ahead of Prior’s receipt of a job offer, or subsequently.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said in a statement: “Police Scotland has confidence in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups scheme, and our application of the necessary tests regarding relevancy, accuracy, necessity, currency, proportionality, and the impact on the human rights of applicants, PVG scheme members and others.
“We have engaged with relevant organisations to address concerns with regards to this case.
“As a result, we are undertaking a wider review of the current thresholds for disclosure of non-conviction information, working alongside Disclosure Scotland. This review will consider any learning from this case.
“Additional scrutiny of the decision-making process is in place as the review is progressed to provide assurance regarding disclosures in the interim.”
Prior was jailed this week.