A case of a social worker abusing a child

Social Worker Emma Hewlett is one of a group of people who forcibly separated a 6 year old girl from her father, against the child's wishes, causing significant psychological harm.

In the weeks following the separation from the father, the child developed bed wetting, crying herself to sleep, she started talking to her teddy bear saying how much she missed her father, and she needed psychotherapy. None of these features were present before the child was separated from her father. A few years later there were reports of ongoing distress and then the child started self-harming. Both of these were directly linked to the loss of her father.

Emma Hewlett knew that the girl had a close relationship with her father, that he did not harm her, and that he was providing emotional support for her during the separation of the parents. Ms Hewlett also knew in advance that the mother was going to take the child away from the father.

After the child had been taken away from her father, Ms Hewlett did nothing to end the child's distress by reuniting her with the father. The father explained to Ms Hewlett that the child would be confused and that she needed to know that her father still loved her. But Ms Hewlett refused to tell the father where the child was.

Emma Hewlett was employed by West Berkshire Council to protect children - it was her job. Instead she did something very traumatic to a child.

It is not known why Emma Hewlett was prepared to let the child suffer so much. However it is suspected that the culture of radicalised feminism amongst social workers in West Berkshire Children's Services was to blame - the idea that fathers are unimportant parents because they are male. Or it is possible that Ms Hewlett was simply being malicious and derived some personal gratification by separating a father from his child.

Whatever the reason, standing by and doing nothing while this child was emotionally harmed is as bad as if Ms Hewlett had been directly abusing the child herself.

The aftermath

Four years after the child lost her father she went through a grieving process and then developed signs of parental alienation.

A year later there was a report of self-harm: