Rotherham charity worker accused of defrauding abuse victim out of compensation "crossed boundaries"
Please note: the defendant has now been cleared of the one charge of fraud she faced
A Rotherham sexual abuse survivor said she realised a charity support worker had acted inappropriately by expecting to receive half of her compensation after she had already transferred thousands of pounds, a jury heard.
55-year-old Kathryn Kelwick is accused of defrauding an abuse survivor out of £16,000 by abusing her position as a vulnerable adults manager at the Swinton Lock Activity Centre.
Kelwick, of Eilam Road, Kimberworth, Rotherham, denies one count of fraud, and has gone on trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
Giving evidence, the abuse survivor said she began to feel there was something “untoward” about the arrangement to share her compensation money with Kelwick “50/50” around the time she transferred a second large sum.
“I knew it weren’t right on that one, but it had been agreed,” she said, referring to the sum of £5,000 she transferred to Kelwick when her second compensation payment came through.
She had transferred £11,000 months earlier.
The survivor alleged Kelwick phoned her on the day the second compensation payment came through.
She said was “no good with forms,” and had relied on Kelwick to help her submit her claim for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Prior to the application, the survivor said she had regarded compensation awards to be “dirty money.”
But she alleged Kelwick had encouraged her to apply for what she was entitled to.
The survivor told the jury that despite her feelings around the time she transferred the second large sum she did not go to the police.
After disclosing what had happened during a counselling session, her counsellor contacted the police on her behalf, the jury heard.
“She got in my head..she crossed a lot of boundaries,” said the abuse survivor, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity.
The abuse survivor denied that she and Kelwick were more like friends, under cross-examination, and said she believed her to be her support worker “99 per cent of the time.”
She also denied sending her the money as “a gift.”
The trial continues.