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Dallas child welfare worker accused of having sex in front of child quits

A Dallas-based worker in the state Department of Human Services accused of having sex in front of a minor has quit, Salem Reporter has learned.

Mark Walsh resigned June 28, according to an agency spokesman, seven months after he was placed on paid administrative leave.

Walsh and paralegal Kate Guy landed on paid administrative leave after allegedly having sex at a Dallas hotel in the same room as a child under state supervision. The allegations emerged in March after a lawyer representing the child filed a tort claim.

The boy woke to what was happening, was threatened and told not to tell what he had seen, according to the tort claim. The claim said he was then moved to a juvenile detention facility.

Guy remains employed by the state, but was moved from paid to unpaid administrative leave on June 29, agency spokesman Jake Sunderland said. Both Guy and Walsh were on medical leave until June 26, he said.

The two worked out of the Dallas field office. The Department of Human Services is tasked caring for the most vulnerable populations in the state, including children removed from their parents for abuse or neglect.

Their boss at the office, Stacey Daeschner, had also been on leave. She was placed on leave Feb. 14 “pending the outcome of an investigation into concerns of your conduct in the workplace,” according to records obtained by Salem Reporter.

Daeschner’s leave ended June 24, Sunderland said. He said the leave was not related to Walsh or Guy.

Daeschner will continue working in child welfare, he said, moving to the agency’s headquarters in Salem to work on a project formed under Gov. Kate Brown’s recent executive order to improve the child welfare system.

Daeschner once tried to shield her office from criticism following an investigation into a 2-month-old’s death, Salem Reporter reported in March.

Have a tip? Contact reporter Troy Brynelson at 503-575-9930, [email protected] or @TroyWB.

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