A former children’s hospice nurse who was caught downloading hundreds of obscene images of youngsters has finally been struck off.
Stephen McCusker worked at Rachel House in Kinross when he was caught by police with nearly 2,000 images of children.
The 49-year-old, from Glenrothes, quit his job when the charges came to light and was ordered to carry out community work by Kirkaldy Sheriff Court. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ roll.
Last year, the Nursing and Midwifery Council banned him from the profession for 12 months. At the time, the panel decided not to remove him from the register because of his guilty plea and his own acceptance that his fitness to practice was impaired.
Now the council has reviewed the case and decided to strike off McCusker because he has failed to show any remorse.
Panel chairwoman Ilana Tessler said: “Mr McCusker has not submitted any of the documents suggested by the original panel, such as a reflective piece or report from this supervising officer… Nor has Mr McCusker demonstrated that he has kept his nursing skills up to date.
“Given that Mr McCusker has had one year to submit any of these documents and has failed to do so, the panel concluded that Mr McCusker has disengaged from the regulatory process, and has therefore provided no evidence of any reflection, remediation, insight or remorse.”
She added that a striking-off order would be imposed for public protection and for the “maintenance of confidence in the nursing profession”.
At a hearing in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in 2014, McCusker’s lawyer said he had quit his job at the hospice as soon as the charges came to light.
He had told police he was “interested in viewing males and females aged ten to 16” when he was arrested.
When asked to explain his actions during a police interview he said “no excuses, it’s not sexual, curiosity mixed with wine”.
He admitted downloading 1740 indecent images over a four-year period at his home in Glenrothes.
Sheriff Derek O’Carroll placed him on the sex offenders register for three years and ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
