Anger as Plymouth nursery abuser is released from prison

The release of the paedophile nursery worker Vanessa George has provoked anger and sadness among parents of children she was supposed to care for.

One mother of a child who attended the Little Ted’s Nursery in Plymouth wrote an open letter to George describing her son’s ongoing trauma and her own feelings of guilt and shame that she put him in danger.

The parent and local MPs called on George to release a full list of the names of the children she abused at the nursery.

George, 49, was jailed indefinitely in 2009 and told she would serve a minimum of seven years behind bars. She was convicted of taking photographs of herself abusing children in her care and swapped indecent images over the internet.

She has always refused give a full list of the children she abused, but earlier this month the Parole Board concluded she no longer posed a significant risk to the public. However, she is under strict licence conditions and has been banned from Devon and Cornwall.

On Wednesday, it was confirmed that George had been released from prison.

Luke Pollard, the MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, said: “I am disgusted. Vanessa George only served 10 years and is being released early. The victims and their families now have a life sentence ahead of them of not knowing whether it was their child who was abused or not.

“Vanessa George chose not to end the suffering of these families or give them any certainty. She should not be released because she has not named her victims.

“The parole conditions mean she can never return to Plymouth, Devon or Cornwall. But she will have to settle somewhere and they need to have the resources to ensure she has no contact with children or can make contact with her victims.

“People I know in Plymouth share in my anger, frustration and disgust. I firmly believe that Vanessa George should be behind bars, not walking our streets. This is a dark day for British justice.”

The MP for Plymouth Moor View, Johnny Mercer, said he had spoken to No 10 and asked for those who did not reveal their victims’ identities to be included in the review into sexual and violent crime sentencing announced last month by the government.

When news broke of her imminent release, chief probation officer Sonia Crozier wrote an open letter to try to reassure the people of Plymouth.

The Parole Board has said it will consider sympathetically any further requests for exclusion zones, to prevent any victim from coming into contact inadvertently with George.

In a letter released to ITV News, one mother wrote to George: “You were my friend. I honestly cannot believe you would hurt our children in the way you did. I feel disgusted and ashamed every day that I left my beautiful innocent child with you willingly as you smiled at me.”

The parent added: “What you’ve left me with is a legacy of pain and constant reminders of the past. A 13-year-old child that still wets the bed and has never had a sleepover at a friend’s house. A child that has had counselling and social problems since they were 18 months old. A child that finds it difficult controlling his emotions who is full of rage at times.”

The woman says she feels “full of shame, guilt and disgust” and waits until her children are in bed to cry. She added: “You owe every single family a definitive answer. You owe us a list of names. You owe us parents a decade without regrets, shame and guilt. You owe our children their childhood, their innocence, their lives back.”