Care worker sexually abused dementia sufferers

Warning: contains details of sexual offences and misconduct that some readers might find upsetting.

A Kent care home worker who filmed himself sexually abusing elderly women with dementia has been jailed for 19 years.

David Jones targeted highly vulnerable pensioners he was meant to be looking after during a campaign of "abhorrent" abuse, Canterbury Crown Court heard on Friday.

Last year, the 53-year-old, from South Road in Herne Bay, was caught by a colleague in one resident's room with his trousers down, while a subsequent search of his phone revealed the full scale of his crimes.

Judge Simon James called it "as abhorrent a breach of trust as is possible to imagine".

Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice, sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder by a care worker and possessing indecent images of children.

A "plethora" of photos of other suspected care home victims who have yet to be identified were also discovered on his mobile.

The court heard that one of the women abused by Jones was non-verbal and could not reveal what had happened to her, but the family of another said they had noticed "fear in her eyes", a "rapid deterioration in her health" and even broken bones.

They called on "all managers of care homes across the country to urgently revisit safeguarding protocols to prevent sick individuals taking advantage of residents' vulnerabilities in this way".

Upon sentencing, the judge said Jones had a "warped sexual satisfaction".

"It is virtually impossible to gauge the psychological harm your victims suffered," he added, while recognising "the feelings of betrayal and understandable anger" their families had experienced.

Detective Sergeant Richard Allingham of Kent Police called Jones' actions "deplorable and a profound breach of trust".

Welcoming the sentence handed down by the court, he thanked the victims' families for "their courage and support throughout this investigation'".

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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