Paedophile nursery worker admits raping and grooming toddlers

A PAEDOPHILE nursery worker today admitted raping a toddler in his care and grooming more than 20 other girls online.

Paul Anthony Wilson, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts of oral rape, and 45 charges of making and distributing indecent images and inciting youngsters to engage in sexual activity on the internet.

The extent of Wilson’s depravity emerged when police investigating the grooming offences raided his flat and found images of the abuse of the toddler at the Little Stars Nursery in Birmingham.

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Dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, Wilson stood with his right arm folded across his chest as he pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court today to 47 charges.

It took more than 30 minutes to put the charges to the unshaven defendant, who hung his head in shame, only looking up to enter each plea.

Remanding him in custody, the Recorder of Birmingham, Judge William Davis, QC, said it was highly likely an indeterminate life sentence would be imposed when he is sentenced in July.

“The public have to be protected from you,” he said.

The case was not opened today, but the facts were outlined at previous hearings.

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During one at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on April 7, a district judge was told the grooming charges related to a total of 22 girls aged between 12 and 15.

Marni Chimba, prosecuting, told the lower court Wilson, of Newbold Croft, Nechells, Birmingham, used multiple identities to befriend the girls on chatlogs and social networking sites, even pretending sometimes to be a previous victim.

The prosecutor said: “Some of the aliases were female names and he also pretended to be the complainants, encouraging others to send their movies to him.”

Miss Chimba said some of the victims were directed to expose themselves using webcams. Others were filmed and recorded performing and taking part in sexual acts.

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Wilson also distributed indecent images and threatened some of the children that he would show images he had already captured to their friends or parents

One victim said she felt shocked, violated and ashamed.

The girl, who cannot be named, also disclosed her “pure hatred” for Wilson who, after pressuring her into exposing herself via a webcam, threatened to distribute the images if she refused to follow his orders.

“It was the choice of carrying on doing this - which I just did not want to do - or going through a few months of total humiliation from these images,” she said.

Her mother warned other parents to monitor their children’s internet use more closely, saying: “You think they are on sites, safe, just talking to their friends, but there are outsiders who will latch on and pretend to be their friends and take them for what they want.”

Sentencing was provisionally set for July 27.

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Detective Chief Inspector Gary Booth, who led the investigation, told a news conference at West Midlands Police headquarters that Wilson had manipulated and coerced his victims.

The senior investigating officer said: “This was a complex case in which Paul Wilson created multiple online identities to manipulate teenage girls and committed a serious sexual offence against a child attending the nursery at which he worked.

“His actions were clearly calculated and carefully considered.”

Mr Booth said Wilson had abused his online relationships to satisfy his perversions and then used fear and guilt to keep the victims silent and force them to perform further sexual acts.

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The officer said: “Our thoughts remain with those victims and their families.

“This was a complex and upsetting case for the officers involved in the investigation, many of whom have children of their own.”

After the initial arrest, Mr Booth said, police officers had faced the difficult task of calling at the homes of victims of the internet abuse.

“With every knock at every victim’s door, they knew the lives of those inside would be irrevocably changed,” the officer added.

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It is understood that images of the abuse of the toddler were found during the first few hours of what began as an investigation into a single allegation of internet grooming.

The significance of the evidence given the nature of Wilson’s job was realised on the day of the arrest and an investigation into the sexual assaults was launched immediately.

Wilson had no criminal record when he was detained and it is believed that appropriate checks on his background were conducted before he began to work at Little Stars around 18 months earlier.

Wilson is the second nursery worker to be convicted of child sex attacks in recent years.

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Vanessa George is serving an indeterminate jail term after sparking nationwide outrage for abusing toddlers and taking photos at Little Ted’s nursery, in Plymouth.

George, formerly of Douglass Road, Efford, Plymouth, was groomed as part of a major paedophile gang, along with three other women, by IT consultant Colin Blanchard.

Blanchard, formerly of Yea Fold, Rochdale, was told by a judge he may never leave jail for his “deep-rooted and long-standing” sexual abuses.

In a statement issued after the case, West Midlands Police confirmed that Wilson was arrested at 5.20am on Wednesday January 5 by officers investigating an allegation of blackmail made by a teenage girl.

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A police spokesman said: “As part of their investigation into this alleged crime, police arrested Wilson and seized computer equipment and mobile phones from his bedroom.

“As Wilson was being questioned, specialist officers began an initial forensic examination of the equipment.

“It was during this examination that officers discovered significant amounts of indecent images, including two recordings taken on a mobile phone of him committing serious sexual offences on a young child.”

Officers then worked to identify the victim and the location of the offence, quickly establishing that the child had previously attended the nursery where Wilson had worked for around 18 months.

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The spokesman continued: “The parents of this child were then informed of the incident, and have been supported throughout the subsequent investigation by family liaison officers.

“At the same time, a multi-agency operation was launched involving Birmingham City Council and Ofsted officials, and on the morning of Thursday January 6, specialist child abuse investigators and social workers attended the nursery to speak to staff and inform parents of the investigation.

“Meetings for parents were arranged and a 24 hour helpline was opened to offer support and advice.”

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