Nursery paedophile worker Vanessa George released from prison after 10 years behind bars

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Rupert Evelyn

Paedophile nursery worker Vanessa George has been released from prison after spending 10 years behind bars.

George, 49, was jailed indefinitely in 2009 and ordered to serve a minimum of seven years for abusing toddlers at Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, Devon.

The Parole Board ruled earlier this month that George no longer poses a significant threat to the public, although she is under "strict licence conditions" and banned from entering Devon and Cornwall.

Vanessa George has been release from prison after 10 years behind bars. Credit: PA

Plymouth's chief probation officer Sonia Crozier condemned George's crimes, saying she shares the "disgust" held by the public.

She wrote: "I share the disgust at the crimes committed by Vanessa George and I understand why the prospect of her release is so worrying to so many people, particularly in Plymouth where memories of her abuse are still vivid and frightening.

“The fact she so callously exploited a position of trust to commit these crimes makes them all the more horrifying.

“She will also never be allowed to work with children again and will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of her life.

“She is subject to a number of conditions, including not to have unsupervised contact with any children whatsoever.

CCTV footage of Vanessa George on the phone to her lawyer while in police custody in Plymouth Credit: Devon and Cornwall Police/PA

“If she breaches any of these conditions or if her probation officer thinks there is an increasing chance she might re-offend – she can be immediately recalled to prison.”

During her sentencing in 2009, Mr Justice Royce said George had “plumbed new depths of depravity” by abusing those in her care.

He added that the effects of her mistreatment of babies and toddlers would be felt in nursery schools across the country.

Although George has named some victims, she was accused of deliberately hiding information that would help identify the victims of her crimes.

A member of the charity group Abused Babies and Children Foundation (ABC) holds a placard that shows the face of Vanessa George during a protest outside Bristol Crown Court when George was jailed in 2009 Credit: Barry Batchelor/PA

Child protection officers visited 180 children believed to have had contact with George, who admitted taking up to eight pictures a day while on duty.

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

Although strict conditions have been put in place to stop George returning to Devon and Cornwall, the families of victims have been outraged at her release.

One parent of a child who attended the nursery where George committed her crimes has demanded that the notorious paedophile name her victims.

The parent, whose child attended Little Ted’s Nursery while George worked there, has written an open letter to the paedophile - calling on her to name all of her victims.

The parent, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said George’s decision to withhold the names had left them with “a legacy of pain and constant reminders of the past.”