Children’s Nursery Suspended During Investigation

A day care facility that, according to the website, had been caring for children from birth to five years of age for 15 years has been suspended as a part of the investigation stemming from a July 29th allegation of abuse.

According to reports, that same day, a single employee, a male teenager, was suspended and arrested by the police on suspicion of abuse.  He was later released on bail with strict conditions prohibiting him from entering the area around the nursery.  His bail is said to be good through November 22nd.  Officials state that he has since relocated outside of the force area.

Acting Detective Chief Inspector James Stock of the Devon and Cornwall police stated that over 250 hours of CCTV footage has been reviewed, and 100 families have been contacted as a part of the investigation.

At this time, they state that the offenses “appear to be the actions of a lone individual” and did not include either the taking or the distribution of images.   He further stated that “We do not believe that any other member of staff had knowledge of these matters."

While every family that had a child at that Jack and Jill location has been contacted by the authorities, they state that they identified about 12 children, ages 2 and up, with direct involvement to the case.  These children were "identified as potential victims of further contact offences."

According to Stock, “Specialist officers from the public protection unit and our colleagues from social services have visited the parents and guardians of those children we believe may be victims.  They will continue to receive multi-agency support in the coming days, weeks and months."

It is reported that Ofsted, an education and children's services regulator, visited the day care in August and expressed some concerns about specific measures to safeguard the children.  When an unannounced visit found that those measures had not been implemented, they chose to suspend the day care.

"Following further investigation, a number of concerns around safeguarding matters were raised by police to partner agencies. Ofsted subsequently made the decision to suspend the licence of the nursery whilst they further investigate those concerns," Stock explained.

The suspension is set to last though December 24th, but can be reversed at any time if Ofsted's requirements are met.

The name of the individual arrested has not been disclosed.  The investigation is ongoing.