A review that examined how nursery worker Vanessa George was able to abuse children in her care today concluded that the nursery provided an "ideal environment within which George could abuse".
The review concluded that there was "weak governance" at the nursery, Little Ted's in Plymouth. There was an "informal recruitment process" and a "lack of formal staff supervision".
It added that individual inspections of the nursery were "not rigorous enough" and the "framework for inspection was not adequate".
The review claims: "The environment enabled a culture to develop in which staff did not feel able to challenge inappropriate behaviour by George. Staff working at the nursery became increasingly uncomfortable and worried about George's behaviour but felt they had nowhere to go with these feelings".
It revealed that Plymouth city council's early years advisory service had regular contact with Little Ted's and flagged up concerns about management rather than safeguarding issues.
Though the service had concerns about the nursery there was "no formal mechanism" for informing Ofsted about them since they did not reach the "threshold of a breach of regulations".
George, 40, from Plymouth, was jailed last year for abusing toddlers. Using her mobile phone, she photographed children in her care being abused and shared the images with her accomplice, Manchester businessmen Colin Blanchard.
Four women and Blanchard have been convicted of making and sharing images of abuse. Prosecutors said they were part of "one of the most sickening paedophile rings this country has seen".
The serious case review drew attention to the "danger of mobile phones within day care settings". It also said that staff did not recognise the "escalation of George's sexualised behaviour" and called for more training so staff could recognise potential signs of abuse.
The report revealed how George showed adult pornography to other staff at the nursery. "The escalation of [her] inappropriate behaviour should have prompted a response by the manager of the nursery but it did not do so. There appears to have been a complete lack of recognition of the seriousness of the boundary violation and a culture within a nursery where explicit sexual references in conversations were the norm".
The Guardian
