Samantha Lee, 31, has been banned from the care profession after a Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) hearing on July 10, 2026. The former carer, of Grangemouth, was convicted in March 2026 at Falkirk Sheriff Court of seven charges of sexual assault against five female colleagues at a care home in Larbert, Stirlingshire. The assaults occurred over a six-month period from January 1 to July 17, 2024.
Pattern of Abuse
Lee's actions included hitting, seizing, and striking victims' breasts, nipples, and buttocks. One 37-year-old colleague described the treatment as “traumatic.” She had returned to work after a medical episode when Lee approached her at the nurse’s station, grabbed her head with both hands, and pulled it into her chest. The victim testified: “She pulled my head into her cleavage and shook her breasts.”
Another colleague, aged 51, said Lee had been “hitting her boobs” and felt “kind of violated.” She was on a waiting list for a mammogram for lumps at the time. She stated: “She hit the bottom of my breasts and pushed them up. It was sore. The second time she did it I told her if she didn't stop I was going to bust her. She went from that to flipping my buttocks.”
Multiple Victims Come Forward
After management launched an investigation, four additional victims came forward. Lee resigned her post at the home, which cares for adults aged 18 to 65, and police were called. A 57-year-old married colleague said she had experienced Lee's behaviour “quite a few times” over more than a year, describing how Lee would use “a juggling motion” to touch her breasts. She said: “She'd catch you unawares. She'd get up, do it, and walk away. I didn't find it funny.”
A 23-year-old nurse said Lee had twisted her nipples “multiple times.” Lee denied all offences, telling the court she was “happy and bubbly” and had “never hurt anybody.”
Court Sentencing
Sheriff Neil Kinnear sentenced Lee to a year of social work supervision and placed her on the sex offenders’ register for 12 months. He said: “Your position is that this is all made up. That would mean me accepting that not one, not three, but five colleagues of yours all deliberately made up lies about you to get you into trouble. I found all five to be credible and reliable. I have no reason to disbelieve them.”
Struck Off by Regulator
At the SSSC hearing, the watchdog stated: “Your actions constitute a prolonged pattern of sexualised behaviour towards a number of colleagues. Although there is no evidence of actual harm caused by your actions, they placed colleagues at risk of emotional harm and could have caused them to feel uncomfortable within the workplace where they are entitled to feel free from harassment. Repetition of the same or similar behaviour would almost certainly place colleagues at risk of emotional harm.”
