Nursery worker pleads guilty to abuse

The offence took place while Wilson, from Newbold Croft, Nechells, was working at the Little Stars nursery in Nechells, Birmingham. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced in January that Wilson was to face two charges of rape on a child aged two to three years between the beginning of January 2009 and the end of July last year.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of child abuse, which then prompted an investigation into his employment at the Little Stars nursery.

Wilson also pleaded guilty to 45 further offences linked to the online grooming of more than 20 girls. The charges relate to making and distributing indecent images and inciting youngsters to engage in sexual activity on the internet.

Wilson will be sentenced in July but the judge warned him that he faces an indeterminate jail sentence.

‘Pure hatred’

One of Paul Wilson’s internet victims said his offences had left her feeling shocked, violated and ashamed. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also disclosed that she now felt “pure hatred” for Wilson, with whom she communicated on a messaging site and Netlog, a web-based youth community.

Asked to describe her emotions when she discovered what the nursery worker had done to other victims, she replied: “I felt violated; it just betrayed all my trust.”

Now 17, the teenager initially engaged in normal conversations over the internet, but was eventually pressured into exposing herself to Wilson via a webcam and was then told that the images would be distributed if she refused to follow his orders.

“I felt quite stupid and ashamed that I had succumbed to what he had asked me to do.”

‘Sense of justice’

Detective Chief Inspector Garry Booth from West Midlands police who led the investigation team paid tribute to the bravery of Wilson’s victims: “Our thoughts remain with those victims and their families who have suffered at Wilson’s hands.

“Their courage, demonstrated by their willingness to act as witnesses, has undoubtedly helped prevent further offences.

“We welcome today’s result which I am sure will go some way to help the victims achieve a sense of justice.”

This case is the second recent high profile conviction of a paedophile found to be working with children in a nursery.

In 2009, nursery worker Vanessa George was jailed with four others including Colin Blanchard and Tracy Dawber, after she was found guilty of sexually assaulting young children in her care at the Little Ted’s nursery in Plymouth.