Events | 2009.06.12
Nursery worker meets parents' anger
• Furious scenes as nursery worker arrives in court
• Police may never identify children in abuse images
Worried parents are waiting to hear if their children are among the alleged victims of the nursery school worker Vanessa George after she appeared in court yesterday amid violent scenes.
Police have begun to work through hundreds of indecent images seized during the investigation, but have admitted that many of the children may never be identified.
George, who is accused of sexual assault and of making and distributing images depicting the abuse of youngsters, was jeered and spat at when she appeared before magistrates in Plymouth for the first time .
In court, parents sobbed and shouted as the graphic details of the charges were read out. It emerged that one of the accusations of assault relates to a one-year-old child. Outside the court, a mob surged towards the police van taking the mother of two away. Bottles and flour were thrown at the vehicle and two men were arrested.
Later George\'s husband, Andrew, who is being protected by the police, said he had been shocked by the week\'s events. In a statement released through Devon and Cornwall police, he said: "Myself, my two children and family have been shocked by the information and events of the past three days. We remain strong as a family and will now await the case to go through the judicial system. We have two young children and my paramount concern is to lessen the impact these events have on them as much as possible."
The case was briefly raised in the House of Commons, though the Speaker, Michael Martin, quickly halted questions. But privately the government acknowledges the case will raise concerns about how people who work closely with children are vetted. The Home Office said a new system, introduced in response to the Soham murders, would be in place by October.
George, 39, who worked at Little Ted\'s nursery in Plymouth, was arrested early on Tuesday. Searches of her house in the Efford area of the city and the privately-run nursery in Laira were carried out.
Police have said they are examining images found on a mobile phone – but many more would also be studied from computers seized during the investigation.
Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Middleton said: "It\'s safe to say we believe some of the images would have been taken within the nursery – but others it\'s impossible to say where those would have been taken."
He added: "We are focusing on our attempts to identify the children contained within the images. This is a very difficult task due to the nature of those images. At this time we have been unable to identify any individual children. Some images may never be identified."
Officers will also be looking into George\'s employment history.
About 100 people, including families of some children who went to the nursery, gathered outside Plymouth magistrates court and about 30 were allowed in after being searched. Before George appeared, the magistrate, Hilary Anderson, warned the public not to disrupt the hearing.
Wearing a white T-shirt and black trousers, George spoke only to confirm her name and her address, which was given as no fixed abode. She entered no pleas and looked at the floor throughout.
As details of the charges were read, parents cried and yelled and one man ran from the court in tears. Another shouted: "Can\'t you look us in the face?", while a third spat at the glass screen separating George from the court.
George faces two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration, one count of sexually assaulting a boy under 13 by touching and one count of sexually assaulting a girl under 13. Three of the children are described in the charges as "infants". The fourth was a one-year-old girl, according to the charge.
She is also accused of making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children. The offences are alleged to have taken place between 1 January 2007 and this month.
Michael French, prosecuting, applied for the case to be sent immediately to crown court. Geoffrey Parlby, defending, made no application for bail, citing "reasons of Mrs George\'s safety".
Speaking after the hearing, one parent who did not want to be named, said: "It was a terrible scene. Those were the first details we had and were worse than we could have imagined."
Others said the worst of it was not knowing if their children were involved – and the thought they might never know for sure what had happened.
Cathy Hancock, chairwoman of the residents\' group the Heart of Efford Community Partnership, said: "The families have shown a high amount of dignity. It could have become riotous, but they have been a credit to the community. This is every parent\'s nightmare. It\'s been really hard to see parents going through this."
Hancock and a parent support adviser are to help police feed information to the community. Social workers are visiting all the families of children who attended the nursery to offer support.
A police family liaison officer, DC Paul Dobinson, said George\'s family was "in pieces" over the allegations. He said: "It\'s been a massive shock to everybody, grandparents, the daughters and the husband. They will be staying at another address for a substantial amount of time."
Little Ted\'s nursery remains closed and George is due to next appear at Plymouth crown court on 21 September.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/j[...]george-plymouth-court-children
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