Locations
Streatham Avenue, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside, L18
Description
A paedophile who plotted for a baby to be brought to his home so he could watch it being sexually abused was struck off the nursing register.
Thomas Harrison devised a sick plan with who he thought was the baby boy's dad in horrific online conversations.
The 31-year-old, from Mossley Hill, was completely unaware that he was actually chatting to an undercover police officer in a sting to catch him.
This week, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revealed that they have removed Harrison, who worked as an adult nurse at Cornerstone Surgery in St Helens, from their nursing register.
Harrison's plot began on July 23 last year when he sent repeated messages to a fictitious profile created on the dating app Grindr.
Once the 31-year-old had struck up a conversation with his new contact, their messages moved onto Wickr, an encrypted messaging platform.
The undercover officer asked Harrison what he was interested in sexually, with Harrison responding "anything goes".
When the officer revealed he had a four month old son, Harrison was asked whether he would prefer sexual activity with the officer or the baby. He said "he would choose the baby".
The pair agreed to meet and the officer arrived at Harrison's home on the night of July 27 2020, where he told the officer to his face that he wanted to watch him abuse the child.
The officer's colleagues from Merseyside Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit then arrived and arrested Harrison for facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
In October last year at Liverpool Crown Court he was sentenced to two years in prison and put on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.
NMC documents, covering the hearing on September 17, stated: "The panel was provided with a certificate of conviction which confirmed that on 16 September 2020 at Crown Court in Liverpool Harrison was convicted of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
"The panel also noted that Harrison had admitted the charge against him.
"The panel agreed that the nature of Harrison's conviction is very serious and involved a very vulnerable baby who was, in the past, placed at unwarranted risk of harm.
"It also breached fundamental tenets of the profession and brought the profession into disrepute.
"Harrison has been convicted of a serious sexual offence involving the attempted sexual abuse of a four month old baby.
It determined that a fully informed member of the public would be appalled by Harrison's conviction, and extremely concerned should a finding of no current impairment be made in light of his convictions."
Detective Constable Craig Doyle said: "Harrison has shown by his actions that he clearly poses a danger to children, and I am very pleased to say he is safely behind bars today.
"He will now spend time behind bars where he can no longer pose a risk, and I hope he uses that time to reflect on the seriousness of his offence and the impact it could have had on a victim, their family and the wider community."
Alongside being struck off the nursing register, the NMC also imposed an 18 month interim suspension order.
This means that Harrison's registration is suspended and they must not practise for the duration it is in place.
On making their decision to remove Harrison from the register, the NMC said: "The panel noted that the serious breach of the fundamental tenets of the profession evidenced by Harrison's actions is fundamentally incompatible with him remaining on the register.
"The panel agreed that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order.
"Having regard to the matters it identified, the panel has concluded that nothing short of this would be sufficient in this case."