Nursery worker jailed for 24 years for raping and abusing children in his care

An ‘evil’ nursery worker has been sentenced to 24 years for raping and abusing young children in his care.

Nathan Bennett, 30, was convicted of two counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration.

The charges related to five boys aged between two and three years old at the Partou King Street Nursery in Bristol.

Bennett previously admitted 13 other sexual offence charges relating to four of the youngsters.

He was hired at the nursery in 2024 before being arrested less than a year later when CCTV captured him putting his hands down a child’s trousers.

Prosecutor Virginia Cornwall told the court that Bennett’s actions were ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.

She said: ‘That a person entrusted to be responsible for your child, care for your child and nurture your child at times when you are unable to provide that parental care, abuses their position and sexually abuses that child.’

Staff of the nursery, which closed last year, said Bennett sat children on his lap for lengthy periods of time.

He also acted ‘territorial’ over certain toddlers and wore trousers with a hole in the crotch area, the court was told.

Video interviews with two of the victims – named only as Child A and Child E – were played to the jury.

Child E’s mum said her son explained to her that he had been abused at nursery, adding to the court: ‘I got him to stop doing it. I asked him when that happened. He said it happened at nursery.’

Judge Hart described the defendant as ‘evil’ and an ‘incorrigible and dangerous paedophile’ as he sentenced him today.

Bennett claimed he was ’emulating’ how he was treated as a child. He denied having a sexual attraction to children.

Judge Hart said the defendant ‘prioritised sexual satisfaction over the well-being of children’, the judge added as Bennett rocked back and forth.

The judge said: ‘Because sexual interest in such very young children is thankfully very uncommon, I find it impossible to predict how long you will remain such a danger.’

He added: ‘Even if some of the children have no memory of what happened, the parents will never forget.

‘The victim impact statements speak of their torment and how their lives have been contaminated by what you did.’

Families who had children at the nursery who were not abused said they were ‘devastated by the horrific abuse’.

Leigh Day, a law firm supporting the parents and guardians, said: ‘Nothing can begin to explain the shock, anger and heartbreak we feel – or the profound and lasting impact we are sure this will have on families.

‘The children were innocent and completely vulnerable; they were in a place that should have been safe.’

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