A MARRIED carer from Paisley bedded a youngster half her age while he was in her care – then warned him: “Don’t tell anyone.”

Harriet Jackson, 34, was paid to look after the boy and help him adjust to life away from the care system.

But she is now on the Sex Offenders’ Register for preying on the youngster, who was just 16, and flirting with him – before forcing him in to bed.

Their relationship became so heated that Jackson, who has a teenage daughter just three years younger than her victim, was accused of making him engage in different sexual acts.

However these claims were deleted from the charge in exchange for her guilty plea to a reduced libel.

A second charge that she endangered the teen by culpably or recklessly supplying him with alcohol, cannabis, speed, and “other controlled drugs” was also dropped.

Jackson was working for Catch Scotland when she preyed on the boy.

But after they had sex their relationship dwindled and they drifted apart – with her last overnight stay with him being on Valentine’s Day.

The details emerged on Monday when Jackson, of Paisley’s Muir Terrace, appeared at the town’s sheriff court to admit her guilt.

She pleaded guilty to breaking Section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 by engaging in sexual activity with someone who was under the age of 18 while in a position of trust towards them.

In October 2014, she became involved professionally with the boy, acting as his daytime carer, before providing overnight support.

She was accused of sleeping with him repeatedly over a three-week period between January 24, 2015, and February 15 that year.

Sheriff Tom McCartney put Jackson on bail, placed her on the Sex Offenders’ Register and adjourned sentencing until next month for background reports to be compiled.