A nursery worker who raped and abused toddlers at a Bristol city centre nursery has been jailed for 30 years in a case a judge described as involving the youngest victims he had seen in many years.
Nathan Bennett, 30, from Corston near Bath, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Monday after being convicted of eight charges, including rape, sexual assault, and assault by penetration, relating to five boys aged two and three. He had already admitted to 13 other charges concerning four of the same victims before his trial last month.
A Predatory Pattern and a Chilling Discovery
Bennett was employed at the Partou King Street Nursery between July 2024 and February 2025. The court heard his behaviour exhibited a “certain level of predation”. Colleagues noted he would sit children on his lap for lengthy periods, seemed “territorial” over specific toddlers and their parents, and wore trousers with holes in the crotch area. One nursery practitioner told the court Bennett had a “jealous attachment” to five children and sought to “take control of them”.
Concerns from parents and staff culminated in February 2025 when the nursery manager, Victoria Tutton, reviewed CCTV footage. It showed Bennett putting his hands down a child’s trousers. He was immediately sent home and Avon and Somerset Police launched an investigation, leading to his arrest. The nursery has since closed.
During the trial, the judge reflected on the heartbreaking contrast between the crimes and the nursery setting, stating: “Watching, as we did in this trial, the closed circuit television footage of the little children at King Street Nursery running around and playing brings a smile to the face of any decent person and any parent… happy, innocent toddlers in a secure setting.”
‘Every Parent’s Nightmare’ and a Young Voice in Court
The prosecution described the case as “every parent’s nightmare,” with victim impact statements outlining the profound and lasting harm inflicted. In a rare and poignant moment, one victim, a boy referred to as Child E, gave evidence via a pre-recorded video. He is believed to be one of the youngest children ever to testify in a British trial. He described being abused in the “toilet area” of the nursery by a “man with the watch,” a reference to Bennett’s smartwatch.
Sentencing Bennett to life with a minimum term of 24 years, the judge rejected aspects of his defence. Bennett had claimed he was “emulating” what was done to him as a child and denied a sexual attraction to children, though he admitted the contact was sexual.
Families Demand Answers Over Safeguarding Failures
In the wake of the sentencing, families are demanding answers, alleging that concerns they raised about Bennett’s behaviour with nursery staff prior to his arrest were not properly escalated or acted upon. Lawyers from Leigh Day solicitors, who are representing a group of the affected families, are investigating potential civil claims against nursery operator Partou for safeguarding failures.
There are, according to the research provided to this newsroom, “deep concerns among families that management and supervision did not protect children, and that this allowed the abuse to continue.” The families have been provided with ongoing, independent specialist support.
Operator’s History and the Call for Scrutiny
Partou, which operates 106 nurseries across the UK, said it was shocked and distressed by Bennett’s crimes. However, the case has cast a spotlight on the company’s safeguarding processes. Ofsted had previously raised concerns about the King Street nursery itself, citing issues with child protection, staff understanding of risks, and inadequate activities.
Furthermore, an analysis shows that eight Partou-managed sites in the Bristol area have faced Ofsted actions in the past five years due to concerns over children’s wellbeing, including inadequate health and safety measures and insufficient staffing levels.
A Wider Context of Nursery Abuse Cases
The Bennett case has reignited scrutiny of safeguarding within early years education. It follows several other recent prosecutions of nursery workers. In March 2024, Aini Berrington was sentenced for shaking a child and shoving toys into his chest. Last September, Rebecca Gregory was jailed for three years for verbally abusing and mishandling children.
On a more severe scale, Vincent Chan, a former nursery worker, was jailed for 18 years in 2025 for sexually abusing children and downloading tens of thousands of indecent images at a Bright Horizons nursery in north London. The case also evokes the historic crimes of Vanessa George, who was sentenced in 2009 for abusing children at a Plymouth nursery.
The severity of Bennett’s offences and the tender age of his victims is likely to fuel ongoing discussions about protective measures, including the potential for mandatory CCTV in all nursery schools.
