A former employee at a Glenrothes soft play centre says she felt violated when she was victim of a sexual assault at her work.
Steph Black, 36, ended up leaving her job after John McDowell touched her bottom in a sexual manner over her clothing at Jumpin’ Jacks as she washed dishes in the kitchen.
Moments after the assault he told her: “Bet you have not had that for a while.”
McDowell, 64, then told Miss Black not to tell his wife, who runs the business in the town’s Fullerton Road.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last month, McDowell was put on the Sex Offenders Register for nine months and told to do 160 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting and communicating indecently with Miss Black on June 30 last year.
He claimed he had just been having “banter” but even his own solicitor said his actions were from a “different era”.
The centre management insists McDowell has never had anything to do with the business – at the time or since.
Miss Black, who has waived her right to anonymity, told The Courier she was speaking out because people may not realise the impact of such conduct.
She said: “I think it’s important people understand the impact of something like that going forward, for anyone else who thinks it’s acceptable behaviour.
“Let it hopefully be a warning to people.
“For other people to have the opinion ‘she was just touched on the ar*e,’ I don’t think they realise how it affects people and I think it’s really unfair I end up having to leave a job after going into work on a normal day.”
‘Don’t want to ruin a marriage’
Miss Black said: “I did not set out to ruin a man’s life.
“He just did not seem very apologetic.”
Recalling the assault, Miss Black said she was standing at the sink washing dishes when McDowell stood next to her and made a “kind of tickle and stroke on my bum” then said: “Bet you have not had that for a while. Don’t tell (the boss)”.
Mum-of-three Miss Black, who had been working at Jumpin’ Jacks for about six weeks, said: “I was shocked but I did think ‘it’s my boss’s husband and I don’t want to ruin a marriage’.
“I kind of froze up. It was really awkward; that feeling in your tummy where you feel like you could be sick.”
She added: “It’s never happened to me before and hope it does not happen again.
“I felt violated. I am at my work, he is an older man, and it’s in a child’s play place.”
Miss Black, a hairdresser to trade, said she enjoyed working at the soft play and that it had been her first job in a long time.
She decided it would be too difficult to keep working there in the circumstances.
Miss Black, who lives in Glenrothes, said she reported the matter to police within a couple of days.
She said losing the job exacerbated her underlying mental health difficulties and she went to the doctor to adjust medication to help her cope with being out of work.
She has been working in another job in retail since last autumn.
‘Banter’
Speaking at the court hearing, defence lawyer Iain McCafferty said McDowell, of Glenrothes, used the phrase “banter” to police during interview and to social workers preparing pre-sentencing reports.
The solicitor said: “The behaviour is perhaps of a different era.
“He accepts it’s not appropriate in this day and age.”
Mr McCafferty said it has been a “moment of madness of inappropriate behaviour from a man who has hitherto been entirely pro-social.”
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon told McDowell stressed “banter” is of a bygone era.
