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

He was found guilty by a jury last month of eight charges including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, relating to five children.

This morning, he was jailed at Bristol Crown Court for 24 years, with an extended licence period of six years.

Bennett started working at the nursery in July 2024.

The court heard how the alarm was first raised in February last year after concerns were raised by parents and staff about Bennett’s behaviour towards the children in his care.

Avon and Somerset Police launched an investigation after staff caught him on CCTV putting his hands down the trousers of a child, which led to Bennett’s arrest and later the closure of the nursery.

It was noted by staff to sit children on his lap for lengthy periods of time, wear a pair of trousers with holes in the crotch area, and seemed "territorial" over certain toddlers and their parents.

Detective Inspector Lucy Forde, who has served in the force for over two decades, said this case is "up there as one of the worst investigations I've taken part in".

She said: "Bennett is a manipulative paedophile who has used his position of trust in nursery settings to offend against children."

“He is aware that there are cameras in the nursery and its all being recorded, and he’s continued to offend. It’s horrendous."

The families of the children affected by the abuse committed by Nathan Bennett in Bristol said they wanted answers to how he was able to commit his crimes.

In a statement issued to reporters by law firm Leigh Day, which represents several of the families involved, they said: "Today’s sentence marks the end of a criminal investigation that has been devastating for families, but it does not begin to repair the harm caused to so many children.

"We entrusted our children to Partou King Street nursery believing they would be safe, cared for and nurtured. Instead, that trust was catastrophically broken by someone who abused his position in the most unimaginable way.

"We know concerns were raised to members of staff, we believe those warnings and complaints were not properly followed up or escalated.

"Had appropriate action been taken sooner, we fear some of the abuse children suffered may have been prevented."

Gemma Kneebone, a senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service’s rape and serious sexual offences unit, told a press conference outside the court: "Nathan Bennett’s offending is amongst the most appalling and upsetting that I have seen in my time as a prosecutor of sexual offences.

"When we send our children to school or pre-school each day, we do so trusting that they will be cared for and kept safe. Bennett took advantage of that trust, seeking out a profession that gave him access to the most vulnerable of victims.

"He exploited his position, and the trust that came with it, to repeatedly abuse young children, while grooming them to believe that his sickening behaviour was normal.

"To discover that a person to whom you had entrusted your child’s care could betray that trust in such a way is unimaginable, and our thoughts remain with all of those affected by these terrible crimes."

Giving evidence, Bennett said he was “emulating” what was done to him as a child and denied having a sexual attraction to children.

The mitigating barrister representing Bennett told the court he had suffered a background of "neglect and abuse", and had been sent as a child to live with a man who had been sexually and emotionally abusive.

She said he had grown up "isolated", but added that the crimes he had committed were "extremely serious".