'Abuse happened in plain sight': Families demand answers over 'monster' nursery rapist

Nursery worker Nathan Bennett has been sentenced to 30 years, with at least two-thirds of that to be served in prison, after sexually abusing toddlers where he worked. With him now behind bars, families from the nursery say there are questions to be answered about whether more could have been done to stop him earlier.

Warning: This story contains distressing details

"He was a monster and a predator.

"He preyed on toddlers, and they [the nursery] didn't do enough to stop it."

Anna's child was at Partou's Kings Street nursery in Bristol while Nathan Bennett was working there.

Her child was not one of the five boys included in the court case against him, but she had raised serious concerns before he was arrested and thinks he could have been stopped earlier.

Following the incident, Partou - which ran the nursery - said an independent review into its safeguarding policies at Kings Street found it was compliant with national guidance.

Bennett, of Corston near Bath, was convicted of two counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault, and two counts of assault by penetration. He had previously admitted 13 other sexual offence charges.

The boys he abused were two and three years old at the time.

Bennett started working at the nursery in July 2024.

"I always thought he was a bit weird," Anna, not her real name, said.

"Then over time thinking he was a bit weird became thinking he was a bit creepy.

"He was too close to children, he was closer than he needed to be and it made me feel uncomfortable over a period of some weeks."

She said there were then two instances when she was "absolutely certain that he had crossed a line".

One of those was in December 2024, and the other in January 2025.

"I saw him hold a child on his lap. He was rubbing his leg. He was reading him a story," she said.

"It was in plain sight and it went on too long.

"I thought about it and then a conversation at home with my child prompted me to take action and to raise my concerns with the nursery manager.

"She told me she would talk to her regional manager, they informed the LADO [Local Authority Designated Officer].

"Then I met with her and she said to me 'she will investigate, but I won't find anything', and I remember feeling so shocked by that because it's the exact opposite of the attitude you should take in safeguarding," she said.

Anna also believes she is not the only parent to have raised concerns.

A Partou spokesperson said it could not "comment directly on the conversation this parent reports" but that its "safeguarding policy states that all team members must be trained to be vigilant for signs of abuse".

The incident reported by Anna was at the start of February last year. Bennett was suspended on the Monday after, but she said he was reinstated by Wednesday morning.

The nursery said the concern "had been reported to and reviewed by the LADO" - who manages allegations of abuse against people working with children.

We now know Bennett went on to abuse boys after Anna's complaint.

It was later that month the nursery manager saw Bennett on CCTV putting his hands down a child's trousers and reported him again to the LADO.

He was arrested the next day on 26 February. Five months later, he was charged.

"I put my trust in the nursery management, the manager, and the leaders of Partou... to provide an environment where children would be safe, and they failed," Anna said.

"They should have made it their business to find out what he was doing and stop it."

Anna said she was particularly concerned that after her complaint, Bennett was still allowed to be alone with children.

"They knew that there was a pattern of concern," she said.

"It's really shocking that he was allowed to be with children, on his own, for extended periods of time, repeatedly.

"Where were the rest of the staff? Why was he on his own in that room?

"I think it's true that you always want to see the good in people, but when you are responsible for other people's children, you have to adopt the attitude of 'it could happen here'."

A spokesperson for Partou said that lone working falls under its safeguarding and whistleblowing policies, which define staff members' oversight responsibilities over their colleagues.

They added that "depending on the layout of a nursery and its operation it is not always possible to ensure that every staff member is within sight of a colleague at all times".

"The concerns raised in early February were referred to the LADO," they added.

Bristol City Council - which employs the LADO - has been contacted for comment.

Anna said she is now speaking out because she wants to see "proper accountability".

She is one of 11 families considering taking civil action against the nursery.

"I want to contribute to the wider conversation about safeguarding in early years provisions," she said.

"And I want to understand better how checks and inspections that are supposedly there to and make sure procedure is being followed."

Andrew Lord, partner at Leigh Day lawyers, is investigating the claims against the nursery.

"Bennett has been made to answer for a number of very significant and very serious crimes," he said.

"The families now want to know what the nursery knew, when they knew it, and what they were doing to stop this from happening.

"What we're talking about is a man with horrendous proclivities towards sexually abusing children.

"You would think in this day and age that there would be systems in place to weed out those sorts of horrendous people who are looking for opportune moments and opportunities to abuse children," he added.

Lord said that in light of other similar incidents across the country, including one in north London, there is a case for a major review of safeguarding systems.

"One case of this nature is horrendous," he said.

"To think that this has happened in two separate nurseries on opposite ends of the country, is just an absolute nightmare.

"I do think that there is something to be said for a real regulatory overhaul, and for legislators to be thinking about how they can better protect children."

He said this could include looking at how long CCTV is kept for, making sure that the complaints are adequately being followed up and mandatory reporting.

The firm is also looking into what checks were made before Bennett was employed by Kings Street nursery, as well as what safeguarding training the staff had.

A Department of Education spokesperson said work is under way to develop new guidance on digital devices and CCTV to help further improve children's safety.

"Our Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks the most significant reform to child protection in a generation, and we are putting a renewed focus on strengthening safeguarding across early years," they said.

"Our new requirements mean every employee must come with references and every setting must support whistleblowing staff who raise concerns."

Investigators say the full extent of Bennett's abuse may never be known.

This is in part because CCTV was only kept by the nursery for a number of weeks.

Anna said: "You choose a nursery based on lots of things, but the one thing that you always, always presume is that you can trust the people in the building, that they will do everything they can to keep your child safe.

"When they don't, and children are repeatedly put at risk and harmed, it's a very, very difficult thing to accept.

"It's the biggest and worst breach of trust that there is."

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