Childminder who left more than 20 children alone in her home jailed
Amanda Mathewson sentenced to two years after pleading guilty to willful neglect of children in her care
Quick Look
- Amanda Mathewson, 55, has been sentenced to two years in prison for willfully neglecting over 20 children by leaving them unsupervised at her home in Dunfermline.
- The offenses were discovered after parents observed her leaving the property without the children.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Mathewson was licensed to care for eight children under 16 but was found to have left over 20 children unsupervised. An internal probe revealed she had been tipped off about inspections.
A childminder who admitted leaving more than 20 children she was caring for alone and unsupervised in her home has been jailed for two years.
Amanda Mathewson, 55, pled guilty to wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to their health at her home in Dunfermline, Fife in August 2024.
An internal Care Inspectorate probe found Mathewson, who was been licensed to look after eight children under the age of 16 at any one time, had been tipped off about unannounced inspections by an unknown staff member.
Her offending only came to light after concerned parents spied on her leaving the home without their children.
Sheriff MacRitchie said Mathewson had committed a "gross abuse of a position of trust" during sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
He told her she had "knowingly" created an environment in which "injury, terror and neglect were obvious and foreseeable".
The sentencing hearing was told about victim impact statements from affected children who said they had suffered "nightmares, anxiety and a distrust of childcare providers".
Open Questions
- Who was the staff member that tipped off the childminder?
- How long did the neglect occur before being discovered?
