Families of children abused by nursery paedophile Vincent Chan say failings ‘created perfect hunting ground for a predator’
Families whose children attend the nursery where a convicted pedophile worked will meet the Education Secretary to press for the reforms to be preserved.
On Tuesday, Bridget Phillipson will meet parents of children attending Bright Horizons nursery school in Finchley Road, West Hampstead.
This comes after the nursery’s former employer, Vincent Chan, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in February.
Last month he was sentenced to prison for abusing young children in a sexual exploitation campaign dubbed “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Parents of some of Chan’s victims have taken action against Bright Horizons and called for the daycare to be prosecuted.
Parents of children attending nursery school are calling on the Government to ensure nurseries are “predator-proof” and parents can raise their concerns safely.
In their statement, the families said: “Because the protections failed, Chan was able to commit his crimes.
“We believe these failures provide the perfect hunting ground for a predator.
“We demand accountability for all failures and are committed to ensuring other children are protected from similar harm.”
Families will call for an early warning system that will allow parents and whistleblowers to report concerns in early years settings to an independent external body.
They also advocate for the use of CCTV or body-worn video in early childhood settings, a mandatory two-adult supervision rule for larger settings, and stronger protections for the use of nursery-owned devices.
Leigh Day, the law firm representing 52 affected families, sent the first legal letter to Bright Horizons in December.
Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at Leigh Day, said: “We have only just begun investigating what happened at Bright Horizons Finchley Road Nursery, but we are already hearing from parents raising concerns about staff and supervision and the way the individual perpetrator interacted with children, but these concerns were ignored.
“We fully support families in their calls for increased early warning and stronger safety standards.”
Ms Phillipson announced a review of local child protection practices in December to “learn every lesson we can to make sure we are protected against this type of crime at every step and at every stage”.
Ms Phillipson, who was pressed at the time to make CCTV mandatory in nurseries, said if the footage was misused it could lead to other forms of child abuse.
Appointed an expert advisory group to develop guidance for the industry on the safe and effective use of CCTV.
Education minister Olivia Bailey told MPs in January that the government was “considering the mandatory use of CCTV in early years settings” as part of the review.
Ms Phillipson said: “Chan’s crimes are absolutely sickening and I would like to thank the families involved for meeting me at an incredibly distressing time.
“Of course, I will take into account all concerns and recommendations put forward to prevent such despicable acts from happening again, and this will contribute to the work we have already initiated.
“Our new requirements mean every employee must come forward with references and every setting must support whistleblowing staff who raise concerns, and our new expert panel will begin work this month to develop new guidance on digital devices and CCTV.”
Chan worked at the Bright Horizons nursery for seven years until she was suspended in 2024 after a colleague raised concerns about her activities with children.
The tipster complained that Chan filmed a child falling asleep and set the footage to music in order to entertain his colleagues.
A subsequent Metropolitan Police investigation uncovered Chan’s collection of more than 25,000 indecent images of children.
These included videos of Chan sexually assaulting some children at the nursery while they were asleep at bedtime.
He pleaded guilty to 56 crimes in total.
In a statement following Chan’s sentencing, Bright Horizons said: “Keeping children safe is our most important responsibility. Vincent Chan broke that trust.”
“His actions were immoral and perverse and contrary to the kindness and care that our dedicated professionals provide children every day.”
The company, which has nurseries across the country, said awareness of the ways staff can raise concerns quickly and confidentially has increased.
It added that “extensive safeguarding practices and training requirements are in place” and that it “offers a range of internal safeguarding audits and refresher training to ensure staff are fully aware of their obligations”.
