Foster father Stephen Pates was convicted of repeatedly indecently assaulting a girl in his care over a period of seven years.

But it is not the first time a paedophile has been allowed to become a foster parent. Peter Rook reports.

Two children play happily with their mum and dad.

It is cosy, heart-warming image of happy families, perhaps enjoying a holiday or a day out, that we can all associate with. It is what every child deserves.

The young girl placed in the care of foster dad Stephen Pates was looking for the kind of stable family background she never had in her life.

But instead she was shown pornographic films, was sexually assaulted once or twice a week and spied on by Pates, who drilled holes in the walls and ceilings so he could watch her undressing.

Last week, Pates, of Benyon Grove, Orton Malborne, Peterborough, was found guilty of indecent assault at Lincoln Crown Court.

The 43-year-old, who was living in Spalding at the time of the offences, was a foster carer with Lincolnshire Social Services.

As Pates awaits his sentence, Lincolnshire Social Services are left pondering how yet another paedophile could have slipped through the net.

Last year, Maurice Janes, of Gedney Hill, near Spalding, was found guilty of 10 indecent assaults and two charges of indecency.

The 68-year-old foster dad was given "a life sentence" of 11 years for molesting children in his care, and the judge described him as "one of the most serious sexual molesters" to come before Lincoln Crown Court.

When Janes was convicted last May, social services chiefs refused to admit mistakes were made in not detecting the child abuse of foster father Janes.

Care department heads said there was little they could have done to stop both men infiltrating the system, during a period when there wasn't the same level of public or professional awareness about sex abuse.

Janes' abuse of girls started in the late 1960s, when he was living in High Wycombe, and continued right up to 1992, when Janes moved to Parsons Drove, near Wisbech.

The offences involving Pates spanned from 1982 to 1988.

Lincolnshire Social Services said procedures and assessments had improved dramatically in recent years - but added it would be foolish to say those sort of things would never happen again.

A report by Sir William Utting, in 1997, raised concerns about how the isolated nature of foster care rendered children particularly vulnerable to abuse.

As a result, the National Foster Carers Association (NFCA) published a code of practice, which highlights areas of concern and reminds local authorities of the checks needed to be carried out.

Spokesman for the NFCA Anne Ryan said: "It gives information of the incidence of child sexual abuse in the population as a whole, and places the recruitment of foster carers in this context."

The timing of the Pates case is unfortunate. Social services departments across the country, including here in Peterborough, are currently undergoing a recruitment drive to encourage more people to become foster parents.

Mrs Ryan said that it was made clear to would-be foster parents that there were extensive checks.

She added: "No system is infallible, but, thankfully, in recent years local authorities' awareness of checks that need to be made on potential foster carers has been heightened."

This story first appeared in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph