Man denies he worked at nursery to abuse kids

A man accused of sexually assaulting five toddlers has denied he started working at a nursery so he could have access to children, a court has heard.

Nathan Bennett, of Corston near Bath, was arrested after the manager of the Partou King Street Day Nursery in Bristol saw him on CCTV putting his hand down the trousers of a child in February 2025.

The 30-year-old, who is standing trial at Bristol Crown Court on charges including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, said he was checking the child's nappy because he said it "hurt".

Bennett told the jury: "It was just a daft decision at that point. I was feeling really icky and couldn't bring myself to get up."

He has pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual assault of a child, four charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one charge of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

However, Bennett denies two charges of raping a child, four charges of sexual assault of a child and two charges of assault of a child by penetration. The offences are alleged to have happened between 2024 to 2025.

On Wednesday, the jury was told the CCTV showed Bennett with his hand inside Child A's trousers for about 25 seconds.

Asked why he needed to do this, Bennett replied: "I just didn't have the strength to pull it from the outside, I couldn't pull it properly from the outside, so I just went in a different way."

Bennett denied that the CCTV footage showed him looking around to check if any staff had seen him with his hand down Child A's trousers.

A detective asked: "Do you think it was appropriate for your hand to be down his trousers for that long?"

Bennett replied: "No. I was just trying to move it away and get some extra room to make it a bit more comfortable."

He was asked whether he became a nursery worker so that you could have access to children in a sexual way, to which he replied "no".

The nursery closed after police launched an investigation, the jury was told.

The trial continues.

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