© Tom Blewitt & Zack Griffiths – Predator Awareness

A support worker who engaged in sexual activity and exchanged explicit messages with a vulnerable 15-year-old boy she was assigned to help has avoided an immediate prison sentence after her girlfriend exposed the relationship.

Chloe Short, 28, admitted one count of sexual activity with a child after a police investigation uncovered a video showing her kissing the teenager, along with a series of intimate and inappropriate text exchanges.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Short was employed by an organisation providing support to families and children in need. Prosecutor Ian Wright said she held “a position of considerable trust” and had been allocated to work directly with the boy through home visits.

During these visits, Short initiated communication that became “wholly inappropriate,” the court was told. Messages recovered from her phone showed the pair expressing love for one another, with Short telling the child she “missed him every second” and was “obsessed with him.”

Judge remarks described her behaviour as “very inappropriate,” emphasising that she had “rejected the trust placed in her” by virtue of her professional role.

The offending came to light when Short’s girlfriend became suspicious and checked her phone, discovering the messages. She alerted Short’s employer, who then contacted police.

A subsequent investigation recovered a short video of Short and the boy kissing. The teenager has not provided an account to police and has “never co-operated” with the prosecution.

Short, of Sycamore Court, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. Taking into account her guilty plea, the court imposed a 10‑month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

She must complete a rehabilitation programme, a mental health treatment requirement, and 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Short will also be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same duration.