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More claims have emerged that parents’ concerns about the nursery worker Vincent Chan were not acted on before he was unmasked as a paedophile, as the government vowed to improve child safety after the scandal.
Chan worked at a north London branch of the Bright Horizons nursery chain from 2017 until his arrest in June 2024. He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 26 offences including sexual assaults against girls aged two to four who were in his care, some carried out as children slept and some of which were filmed.
Parents have said they are “sickened” and through their lawyer have told of concerns they had about Chan which they said were not taken seriously. They have blamed Bright Horizons for failings before Chan’s arrest.
Alison Millar, a solicitor acting for some of the 700 parents whose children attended the nursery while Chan worked there, said the allegations included children coming home with injuries, including bite marks, cuts and scratches.
The children also allegedly told their parents Chan was encouraging the boys in his class, aged between two and four, to fight one another. Millar also said Chan behaved inappropriately by shouting at the toddlers in his class.
Bright Horizons said: “If this conduct occurred, it is unacceptable – we do not encourage or condone violence in any form. Likewise, if staff were informed of concerns and did not manage them appropriately this is not acceptable and not in line with what we require from our nursery teams.
“At the moment our information on this matter is limited. Relevant individuals who managed the nursery during the course of Chan’s employment are no longer employed by us and it has not been possible to question them about this.
“However, the child safeguarding practice review … will look into whether and how Chan’s offending could have been detected earlier. We hope it will provide answers to impacted families, to us as the provider and the wider industry.”
Details have also emerged of Bright Horizons employing another worker who had a sexual interest in children.
In 2017 Alison Whateley, a manager at the Bushy Tails nursery in Teddington, London, was arrested. She was recorded saying she was a paedophile and expressing an interest in abusing children, and pleaded guilty in 2019.
Asked whether changes were made to staff vetting and recruitment after Whateley’s arrest, Bright Horizons said: “Our safer recruitment procedures, which we review regularly, are compliant. Both Alison Whateley and Vincent Chan passed the required checks.”
The nursery added: “We take safer recruitment and ongoing employment extremely seriously. We have been in operation for over 40 years and employed tens of thousands of staff who and dedicated to promoting the safety and wellbeing of the children entrusted to our care.
“Vincent Chan’s offending should not have happened. We are committed to fully supporting the ongoing review as we did the police investigation, so that learnings can be taken.”
In the House of Commons, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said there would be a full review of the case. She said greater use of CCTV in nurseries would be considered and a rapid review of the case had recommended a full child safeguarding practice review was needed.
Phillipson condemned Chan’s “vile and abhorrent crimes” and added: “My promise to [the families] through these darkest of days, my promise to members [of parliament] here today, my promise to families across the country, is not only that justice will be served, but that we will strengthen the ways in which we keep children safe.”
Chan will be sentenced on 23 January. The branch of the nursery where the abuse took place has been closed.
