Vincent Chan was sentenced in February for molesting young children (Image: PA)
Families of children attending the nursery where a vile paedophile attacked sleeping kids will pile pressure on the Education Secretary to bring in urgent reforms.
Bridget Phillipson will meet with parents of children who attended Bright Horizons nursery on Finchley Road, in London, after former nursery employee Vincent Chan was jailed for 18 years.
Chan was sentenced in February for molesting young children in a campaign of sexual abuse dubbed “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
He pleaded guilty to 26 harrowing charges, including five of sexual assault on a child by penetration and four counts of sexual assault of a child by touching. Parents of some of Chan’s victims are taking action against Bright Horizons and have called for the nursery itself to be prosecuted.
Ms Phillipson is also facing demands from the families to improve safeguarding in the early years sector. In a statement, the families said: “Chan was able to commit his crimes because safeguarding failed.
“We believe these failures created the perfect hunting ground for a predator. We want accountability for all failures, and we are determined to make sure other children are protected from similar harm.”
Parents are calling for an early warning system to allow families and whistleblowers to raise concerns in early years settings to an independent external body.
They are also advocating for CCTV or body-worn video in early years settings, a mandatory two-adult supervision rule for larger settings and stronger safeguards for the use of nursery-owned devices.
In December, Ms Phillipson announced a full local child safeguarding review was being set up immediately to learn lessons from the sickening case.
In a message to affected families, as well as parents across the UK, she vowed to “root out abuse from wherever it hides” and “to rid our society of this evil”.
The Education chief also said she intended to appoint an expert advisory group to develop guidance for the sector on the safe and effective use of CCTV and digital devices. Education minister Olivia Bailey told MPs in January the Government is “considering the mandatory use of CCTV in early years settings” as part of the review.
Law firm Leigh Day, which represents 52 affected families, sent an initial legal letter to Bright Horizons in December. Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at Leigh Day, said: “We have only recently begun investigating what happened at Bright Horizons Finchley Road Nursery but already we are hearing from parents that they raised concerns about staffing and supervision and the concerning way that the individual perpetrator was interacting with children; however, these concerns were not addressed.
“We wholly support the families in their calls for early warning escalation and stronger safeguarding standards.”
In a statement after Chan’s sentencing, Bright Horizons said: “Keeping children safe is our most important responsibility. Vincent Chan broke that trust. His actions were depraved and devious and go against the kindness and care our dedicated professionals provide to children each day.”
