LONDON, July 15, 2005 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) – A pedophile who was fired from his job at a British Catholic publishing house following his conviction for sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl is suing his employers for unfair dismissal.
Earlier this year, Geoffrey Moore admitted five offences of indecency with the girl and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was given a 3-year community rehabilitation order, put on the sex offenders’ register for 5 years and banned from working with children for life.
The day after his conviction, Moore was dismissed by Kevin Mayhew, of Suffolk, a publishing firm which specializes in hymnals and liturgical music. Moore is now claiming unfair dismissal and is demanding £2,000 compensation ($3,500) after losing his £12,000-a-year job.
The firm’s managing director, Kevin Mayhew, told the Daily Telegraph: “It beggars belief that he has the cheek to try and claim compensation after what he did to this little girl.”
Mayhew, a practicing Catholic, went on to explain that when Moore was arrested in November, he was allowed to keep his job since he had not been tried or proven guilty. He said: “As a Christian organization, we did not think it would be fair on his wife or children to dismiss him.” Instead Moore agreed to resign if he was sent to jail, but was sacked after the details of his offences were revealed, Mayhew added.
Michelle Elliot, director of the children’s charity Kidscape, told the newspaper: “If abusing a 4-year-old girl is not grounds for dismissal, I do not know what is.”
However, the Department of Trade and Industry said it was important that all employees had the opportunity to have their claims heard. It added that anyone bringing a case “unreasonably” could pay costs of up to £10,000.