A councillor who posed as a woman on Facebook to exchange explicit images with men has been found to have committed gross misconduct.
Kyle Daisley, a former chairman of Worcestershire County Council and a special constable, used a fake profile to contact 52 men, according to a Warwickshire Police misconduct panel.
The 26-year-old accepted that he committed misconduct but denied gross misconduct. He told the panel that he did it ‘in jest’ and was sorry ‘for any upset’ caused.
Mr Daisley’s representative, Insp Steve Martin from the Police Federation, said he had not gained any sexual gratification from his actions.
However, the panel rejected this argument. Chief Constable Debbie Tedds said she was satisfied the purpose had been for sexual gratification.
‘It's gross misconduct as you are clearly culpable. I accept your actions were misjudged but you should have known better, known not to do it at all and known when to stop,’ she said.
Mr Daisley was arrested in August 2022 on an unrelated matter and had his devices seized leading to the discovery of the fake account.
While at the council, Mr Daisley served as chairman of the children and families panel, and led the scrutiny task group looking into Children's Adolescent Mental Health Service.
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council: ‘Whilst the individual is not an employee of the county council, we can confirm that safeguarding procedures have been, and continue to be followed.
'The council would like to reassure residents that keeping people safe is at the heart of what we do and we have followed our standard processes.'
