Adelaide disability worker charged with sexually assaulting client
A disability worker from Adelaide’s northeastern suburbs has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in his care, as the State Government responds to the charges.
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A disability worker has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his care.
Police arrested the male worker, 41, of Adelaide’s northeastern suburbs, on Sunday night.
He was charged with sexual assault offences and was bailed under “strict conditions”, police said.
Acting Chief Executive of the Department of Human Services, Lois Boswell, said her office notified police of the alleged offences.
“The employee was immediately directed away from the workplace,” she said in a statement.
Ms Boswell said people receiving support from this worker and his employers are being notified in line with the Debelle Protocols.
“As the matter is before the courts, no further information can be provided at this time.”
It is believed the man, who will face court next month, worked in supported accommodation.
Opposition Human Services spokeswoman Nat Cook said: “This is yet another terrible incident coming to light in the disability sector”.
“The public should rightly be outraged by what’s been going on in this state’s disability sector and it’s time to deal with it head on.”
The charges were laid just weeks after the State Government accepted seven recommendations from a taskforce on how to better safeguard vulnerable disabled South Australians.
The taskforce, led by advocates Kelly Vincent and David Caudrey, was set up after the death of neglect victim Annie Smith, who had been confined to her Kensington Park home.
SA Police is investigating the circumstances leading to the death of Ms Smith, 54, from severe septic shock and multiple organ failure in April.
The carer of Ms Smith, Rosemary Maione, 68, has been charged with her manslaughter.
Maione was employed by Integrity Care and had been Ms Smith’s carer for seven years, despite not holding a disability services employment clearance as required by law.
The NDIS commissioner has appointed former federal court judge Alan Robertson to lead an independent inquiry.
Ms Vincent said the latest case was “hugely concerning’’.
“We know from the Integrity Care case there may be other workers working out there who don’t have their relevant checks and who might have otherwise been identified as not being appropriate to work with vulnerable people,’’ she said.
Ms Vincent said while no report was a “silver bullet’’, more needed to be done to protect the vulnerable and that better screenings were necessary for potential workers.
“One of the things we did talk about was … as well as the police checks for potential workers (was) psychological screening,’’ she said.
Ms Vincent was recently appointed as Principal Disability Adviser at the Human Services department.
Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said: “The (department) moved swiftly to report this alleged incident to police and took immediate steps to ensure the affected clients are safe and supported.”