Jail for Cambridgeshire nursery worker who sexually assaulted child and took indecent pictures of her

A nursery worker who sexually assaulted a child and took indecent photos of her has been brought to justice.

The man, who is aged in his 30s, from Cambridgeshire and cannot be named to protect the young girl’s identity, became close with the victim’s family because of his job and offered to babysit the young girl for free.

However, he abused that trust – and has now been jailed for five years.

Police have welcomed the sentence handed out, with Det Sgt Sam Constable saying: “I hope the victim and her family can now find some closure from this traumatic period of her life.”

Cambridgeshire Police said that in April 2021, while babysitting, the man removed most of the girl’s clothes and gave her a massage.

That same evening, the girl confided in a family member what had happened and police were called.

The girl later repeated what had happened to officers from the force’s Child Abuse Investigations and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU).

The man was arrested at his home the same day, with searches carried out of his bedroom and car and his laptop and phone were seized.

In police interview the man denied the allegations and gave a pre-prepared statement stating he had done a “baby massage” course as part of his job. He claimed the massage was “completely innocent”, purely for the girl’s wellbeing and had no sexual motive.

His devices were examined and six category C indecent images of the girl were found, including a further photo which showed the man and young girl kissing. On other devices were thousands of posed photographs of the girl, though not indecent in nature.

As a result, the man was further arrested on suspicion of taking and possessing indecent images of a child and sexually assaulting a child.

At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on 19 January, he admitted taking indecent photos of a child and two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13.

He was sentenced last Friday (28 April) at Cambridge Crown Court, where he was handed five years in prison with an extra three years on licence.

He must also sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and was given a 10-year restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim in any way.

Det Sgt Constable, from the force’s CAISU team, said: “The defendant claimed his behaviour towards the victim was completely innocent but, through hard work, we proved this was not the case and I am pleased he has finally been brought to justice.

“As this case highlights, we have specially trained officers who are there to support victims and bring offenders to justice.

“A lot of our work is sensitive and therefore difficult to share, but protecting young people from harm is one of our top priorities.

“I hope the victim and her family can now find some closure from this traumatic period of her life.”