AN ORGANISATION criticised by the Charity Commission following the jailing of a trustee for grooming is ending its work with young men and boys at risk of sexual exploitation.

Former Ilkley Parish Council chairman Heathcliffe Bowen was found guilty earlier this year

of grooming young boys on the internet with a view to meeting them for sex.

Bowen, who was jailed for five years, was a former Bradford Council safeguarding administrator, and a trustee of Yorkshire Mesmac, a long-standing sexual health organisation. It is the umbrella charity that includes the BLAST project that works with young men and boys at risk of sexual exploitation and organises the annual Yorkshire CSE conference in Bradford, aimed at tackling child sexual exploitation.

Now a Charity Commission report into Yorkshire Mesmac has revealed that the organisation is winding down its targeted work with young men and boys at risk of sexual exploitation and has commissioned an external expert to review its safeguarding procedures.

Both Bradford Council and Mesmac said Bowen’s roles did not put him into direct contact with vulnerable young people.

But Mesmac's conduct has been criticised by the Charity Commission which scrutinised the charity’s safeguarding arrangements and general governance procedures.

A report from the commission says: "In late 2017, media reporting raised concern about the charity’s staff conduct policy - particularly because it appeared to permit non-professional personal relationships between employees and service users of the charity. The Commission engaged with the trustees at this point and obtained assurances and evidence that the policy in question had been reworded to make clear that such relationships were forbidden.

"In February 2018 the charity submitted a serious incident report to the Commission regarding the criminal conviction of a former trustee for serious sexual offences. This raised further concerns and led to the opening of a regulatory compliance case in March 2018."

The report adds: "We established that the trustee concerned had resigned from the charity in 2014 and had not been actively involved since 2013. The charity trustees had been aware of the allegations through the LADO and the police investigation since at least 2015, but failed to report a serious incident to the Commission at the time.

"We obtained assurances that the police did not question the charity as part of their investigation, and that none of the subsequent criminal convictions of the trustee were linked to or related to abuse of charity beneficiaries.

"The trustee did not have any sole contact with service users of the charity, so we established that the actual risk of harm to beneficiaries or others connected with the charity had been minimal.

The report says: "The charity has acknowledged it should have reported the serious incident to the Commission earlier than it did and as a result of our advice, identified a number of additional historical incidents that have now been retrospectively reported. These have been assessed and we are satisfied the charity has dealt with these separate incidents appropriately.

"The trustees have already reviewed their staff recruitment processes and are satisfied they are fit for purpose, with DBS checks being undertaken and regular periodic reviews being carried out against all board members, and appropriate staff and volunteers.

"However, given media attention around its activities, the trustees have taken the decision to end their targeted work with young men and boys at risk of sexual exploitation and made arrangements to ensure a winding down of this service. Steps have been taken to ensure that this is a managed process, and the charity is working with partners to ensure that present beneficiaries are supported going forward."

Tracy Howarth, Head of Regulatory Compliance at the Charity Commission said:

"People have a right to expect that charities are places where they will be protected, so we repeatedly remind trustees that safeguarding should be a governance priority. That includes taking steps to ensure no one who comes into contact with their charity suffers distress or harm, and is especially important when working with young people who may be at risk. I am encouraged by Yorkshire Mesmac’s progress so far on tightening its safeguarding procedures; it is vital that this continues."

Tom Doyle Chief Executive of Mesmac said:"We would like to thank the charity commission for their support and advice and we are looking forward to working with them in the future."

Heathcliffe Bowen, 50, was found guilty of a series of offences between 2013 and 2015 including grooming young boys on the internet with a view to meeting them for sex. One of the people Bowen had communicated with was a 15-year-old boy.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said Bowen, of Woodlands Rise, Ilkley, had a “deep and entrenched interest in underage children."