Carers of vulnerable young children say they have been seriously let down after discovering a council driver is a sexual predator.
Mark Campbell transported children alone to planned visitations for North Tyneside Children’s Services until he was arrested for grooming.
It was only when an article appeared in a local newspaper that the children’s guardians found out.
The 52-year-old used Snapchat to ask who he thought was a 13-year-old girl if she liked older men, adding that he did not care about their age difference.
He said he needed to be ‘discreet and careful’ before sending pictures of his penis and asking for images of the girls private parts.
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In reality, he was speaking to a police officer hunting sexual predators, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
A guardian told Metro: ‘The stress and anxiety this has placed on our family is completely overwhelming. Every day is filled with doubt, worry, and anger.
‘The system has completely failed us, and their total lack of transparency has broken our trust in local authority safeguarding beyond repair.’
Logs shown to Metro reveal Campbell had unsupervised access to children months before his arrest.
One document described him as picking up two children in his car in early May.
But it was up to the guardians to find out themselves if their child had been in contact with Campbell, which included submitting subject access requests.
‘Finding out completely by accident through a local news article that a now convicted child exploiter had sole, unsupervised physical custody of our children was a sickening betrayal,’ the guardian said.
They added: ‘But the council’s cold, silent response has made the trauma so much worse.
‘They didn’t proactively reach out to warn us, they didn’t offer any professional support they just buried the incident to protect their own reputation while we were left to pick up the pieces of our shattered trust.’
North Tyneside Children’s Services said they were unaware of Campbell’s offending until August 11 and took action as soon as they were told.
Rebecca Wall, Director of Children’s Services at North Tyneside Council, said: ‘We are sorry that some families learned about this matter online rather than hearing from us directly. We completely understand the worry, upset, and frustration this may have caused, and we would like to offer our sincere apologies.
‘We know that parents place immense trust in us, and we recognise how unsettling this situation will be for many. Our ambition is always to be as open and transparent as possible. However, we have to work with the legal and court processes and while these processes are ongoing there are legal limitations on what can be shared.
‘As soon as we became aware of the outcome, we took immediate steps to contact families and provide reassurance and support. We remain committed to listening to families’ concerns and responding to any questions they may have.’
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