Parents not told about paedophile careworker

Paedophile Mark Campbell was a childcare worker at North Tyneside Council A council has apologised for failing to inform parents of looked-after-children that a former childcare worker had been convicted of child sex offences. Mark Campbell had unsupervised access to their children through his work at North Tyneside Council at the time of his offending last year. The council suspended him when he was arrested, but parents did not find out until reading media reports after he was jailed, with one saying she was "shaking" when she read about his crimes. The council said it was "sorry some families learned about this matter online rather than hearing from us directly", but there had been legal limitations on what could be shared before he was sentenced. Campbell's offences were revealed when he was caught sending messages to what he thought was a young teenage girl in July 2025. The offences are not believed to have involved children from his work. One mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was "in shock" because Campbell had taken her children swimming. "I felt physically sick knowing he had been around my children," said the woman, who we are calling Laura. "He was in a cubicle, he could have been looking at any child, not just mine. I can't get it out my head." Laura said she "felt physically sick" when a friend sent her a news article reporting on his sentencing. "Every single person who he has had contact with should have been notified on his charge," she said. Laura wants to quiz the council about how they can be certain no child in their care was affected. "I'm just angry," she said. "I want answers. They need to answer the questions." A council spokesperson said: "At no point have the police informed us that any children in care were involved in this case." Another mother, who we are calling Sarah to protect her identity, said she felt "so angry" at the discovery because Campbell had had unsupervised contact with her children. "I changed my daughter's nappy in front of him," she said. "In one session, he said my daughter was beautiful. I didn't think he was anyone to be worried about. "I can't get that comment out of my head now." After catching him in a police sting, officers also discovered indecent images of children on his mobile phone. The 52-year-old army veteran pleaded guilty to all charges in June 2026 and was jailed for 18 months last week.