Childminder Who Left 27 Children Unsupervised Was a "Master Manipulator," Say Parents

Parents whose children were placed in the care of a Fife childminder who has admitted a series of neglect charges have spoken of their shock and betrayal, describing the woman they once trusted as a "master manipulator" who concealed years of inadequate supervision behind a carefully cultivated reputation.

Amanda Mathewson, 55, pleaded guilty at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday to wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to their health. She is due to be sentenced next month.

The case has stunned the Dunfermline community, where Mathewson had worked as a self-employed childminder for three decades, providing care at her home for children under the age of 16. At one point, investigators found she had left 27 youngsters alone and unsupervised at her property — far in excess of what her registration permitted.

Families who spoke to BBC Scotland said Mathewson had been "loved and trusted" locally before her offending came to light, and described the process of learning the truth as "incredibly traumatic."

One parent recalled that Mathewson was widely viewed as "one of the best in the area," a perception she appeared to nurture deliberately. According to that parent, building an apparently unshakeable reputation as friendly, caring and trustworthy with the adults she met outside her home was part of how she kept what was happening behind closed doors hidden from view.

Another parent, who considered Mathewson "a good friend," told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings programme that the discovery had forced families to re-evaluate years of their lives. They said they had to "rewrite eight years of history" and had lost happy memories because the belief that their children were being properly cared for turned out not to be true. The parent added that Mathewson was "a master manipulator" who had "got away with these things for years."

Mathewson was arrested by police following allegations of cruelty towards children. At the time of her arrest, she had 15 children aged under 12 in her care, along with 10 children under primary school age and two children under the age of one — a caseload that bore no resemblance to the limits attached to her registration.

The investigation uncovered discrepancies between the number of children Mathewson was registered to look after and the number she was seen with on multiple occasions. A Care Inspectorate report published in August 2023 stated that she was registered to provide care for a maximum of eight children at any one time. Her conditions also capped the number of children under 12 at six, those under school age at three, and those under 12 months old at one.

Court documents detailed a pattern of behaviour designed to keep parents at a distance. Mathewson habitually played loud music and would not allow parents to enter her home at drop-off time, which the court heard was an attempt to conceal how oversubscribed she had become.

Concerns raised by families appear to have been repeatedly deflected. The court heard that some parents worried their children had not eaten while in Mathewson's care because their clothes remained in "pristine condition," and that it was a common theme for children to return home thirsty. Some children came home in dirty nappies or with dry faeces in their underwear.

Parents said they noticed signs of distress and asked questions, but were always reassured by Mathewson, who would pre-empt their worries with what one described as "a plausible explanation." One parent told the BBC the deception was sustained and deliberate, concealing neglect from families and professionals alike. They added that if Mathewson could build and manipulate the trust of adults across an entire community so effectively, it was chilling to consider how little power babies and young children had behind those closed doors.

The case raises uncomfortable questions about how oversight of childminders operates in Scotland. An unannounced Care Inspectorate inspection took place about a year before Mathewson's arrest, and it rated areas including care, learning and the setting as "very good" — the second-highest level on the quality scale. The resulting report said children "were cared for in a comfortable, welcoming and homely environment" and "were cared for with warmth, kindness and a nurturing approach."

That assessment stands in stark contrast to the evidence that later emerged in court, prompting scrutiny of whether inspections are capable of detecting deliberate concealment when a provider is determined to present a false picture.

After suspicions were eventually raised, parents worked together to gather evidence and bring it to the police, a collective effort that one parent described as essential to the investigation. Reflecting on the aftermath, the same parent said the first few months after the truth emerged were almost impossible to describe. Every parent involved, they said, had gone back over every conversation and every comment their child had ever made, searching for anything that had seemed innocent at the time but could, in hindsight, have been a red flag.

The Care Inspectorate said in response to the case that it was a "distressing" matter and confirmed that changes had been implemented as a result of what happened. The nature of those changes has not been detailed publicly.

Mathewson now awaits sentencing, with the court having heard the full extent of the neglect to which she has admitted. For the families involved, the guilty plea marks the end of a legal process but not of the wider reckoning with how a person they regarded as a friend and a trusted professional was able to operate undetected for so long — and with what consequences for the children who could not speak for themselves.