Nathan Bennett, 30 denies 11 charges relating to the nursery where he worked, including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration against children as young as two
A court has heard a three-year-old boy give evidence about how he was allegedly sexually abused by a nursery worker in a toilet.
Nathan Bennett, 30, is accused of sexually abusing five toddlers in his care in a case described by prosecutors as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’. He denies 11 charges relating to the nursery where he worked, including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration.
He has previously pleaded guilty to 13 other charges involving five children aged two or three, Bristol Crown Court has heard.
This afternoon jurors at his trial watched video evidence of an interview recorded with one of the children who Bennett allegedly abused.
Judge William Hart told jurors he had decided there was “no evidential value in cross-examining” the child, but said this did not mean Bennett accepted what the boy alleged.
“It is recorded evidence of a very small child,” the judge added.
The boy, referred to as Child E, described in the recording how he had been sexually assaulted by Bennett. “Then I turned around and he was gone,” the boy said.
The incident had taken place in the “toilet area” of the nursery, the boy said.
When asked if anyone else had been there he said: “No. All the children were out playing.”
When asked if similar things had happened more than once, he replied: “More but only two times”.
The court watched as he played with playdough on the tape while answering questions. He confirmed that he had not told anyone about what had happened.
The boy was shown a video at the start of his interview, explaining the difference between truth and lies and was told he must only tell the truth.
Child E’s mother told the county how her son had frist spoken about being abused while she was helping him use the toilet.
He had shown her how he was assaulted, she told the court. She said he had told her: “I don’t like it, it makes me sad.”
“Obviously I was horrified,” she told the jury.
“I got him to stop doing it. I asked him when did that happen. He said it happened at nursery.
“He said it was the man with the watch.
“He specifically referenced the man with the watch, which we immediately knew who he was talking about because when he was being cared for at nursery by Nathan, he had a smart watch which Child E really liked.
“He used to let him play with it on a regular basis.”
The mother, who contacted police after her son’s disclosure, said he was “upset” during their conversation.
“He was sad,” she said.
“He didn’t cry but he was definitely sad and quiet. After we had the conversation, I said: ‘We won’t let that happen again’, and gave him a big hug.”
The mum told the court how she often saw photographs of her son sitting on Bennett’s lap at nursery and that he had given the family his phone number as “he would like to do some babysitting for us”.
On one occasion, Bennett told her son “love you” as he was leaving, she said. Virginia Cornwall, prosecuting, described it as “every parent’s nightmare” as the trial opened on Monday.
Bennett had started working at the nursery in July 2024 and he had experience working in other pre-school settings, the court heard.
By his guilty pleas, Bennett had “an admitted sexual interest in pre-school boys,” Ms Cornwall said.
“The Crown suggests he was able to exploit a sexual interest, and had access to, by his employment as an early years practitioner,” she told the jury.
A safeguarding concern was raised about Bennett in early February of last year.
He was immediately sent home on February 26, after nursery manager Victoria Tutton, who was known as Vera, allegedly witnessed Bennett on CCTV putting his hand down the trousers of a child.
The nursery closed after police launched an investigation, the trial was told.
Bennett, of Bath, denies 11 charges including: two charges of raping a child under 13, four charges of the sexual assault of a child under 13, two charges of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and three charges of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
He has previously pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including: eight charges of sexual assault of a child under 13, four charges of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and one charge of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
The trial continues.
