My toddler was looked after by a sexual monster at their nursery'

"For six months, she unknowingly placed her child into the care of a predatory paedophile. Dismissing his awkwardness as a personality trait of a man who was a bit weird, she trusted Nathan Bennett as her two-year-old's key worker; someone to nurture their development, while keeping them safe. There were whispers at the gate of Partou King Street nursery in Bristol that the 30-year-old early years practitioner was overstepping boundaries."

"His crimes were put before a jury and he was jailed for 28 years for raping and abusing children in his care. Shockingly, the first the mother knew about it was not from the nursery managers but the local press, which in March last year reported that Bennett had been arrested after what nursery operators Partou described as an isolated incident."

"I felt absolutely disgusted, the mother, who wants to remain anonymous, told The Independent. He was my child's key worker. On the day of his arrest I dropped my child off with him in the morning, then he was not there at pick-up. I didn't think much of it at the time and no-one told me anything - it was only when I read in the local press weeks later."

Nathan Bennett, a 30-year-old early years practitioner at Partou King Street nursery in Bristol, was convicted and sentenced to 28 years imprisonment for raping and abusing children under his care. Despite warnings from other parents about boundary violations, the nursery management failed to act appropriately. The child's mother discovered Bennett's arrest through local press coverage weeks after the incident, not from nursery officials. Ofsted delayed suspending the nursery's registration by nearly two weeks, indicating inadequate information sharing. The nursery subsequently closed permanently in December. Partou, which operates over 130 UK nurseries, cited reporting restrictions for their failure to inform parents, though additional criticisms emerged during the criminal trial regarding manager conduct.

Read at www.independent.co.uk