Nursery worker found guilty of rape and sexual assault against five toddlers

A nursery worker in Bristol has been found guilty of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against five toddlers – in a case described as “every parent’s nightmare”.

Nathan Bennett, 30, was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of two charges of raping a child under 13, four of the sexual assault of a child under 13, and two charges of assault of a child under 13 by penetration.

Bennett, from Corston, near Bath, began working at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol in July 2024.

Concerns were raised in February 2025 when nursery manager Victoria Tutton viewed CCTV footage showing Bennett putting his hands down the trousers of a child.

Bennett was immediately sent home.

Avon and Somerset Police began an investigation which led to Bennett’s arrest and the closure of the nursery in the centre of the city.

During four days of evidence, a jury heard how staff had noted that Bennett would sit children on his lap for lengthy periods of time, wear a pair of trousers with holes in the crotch area and seemed “territorial” over certain toddlers and their parents.

One nursery practitioner described how Bennett had a “jealous attachment” with five children and would “take control of them”.

Speaking outside Bristol Crown Court, Temporary Detective Inspector Lucy Ford, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: “Nathan Bennett was trusted to care for children but committed sexual offences against the very young children at his place of work.

“An investigation involving such young children was deeply challenging and distressing for all concerned.”

During the trial, video interviews of two children in the case – referred to as Child A and Child E – were played to the jury.

Child E’s mother also gave evidence, telling the jury her son had demonstrated how he’d been abused at the nursery.

“I got him to stop doing it. I asked him when did that happen. He said it happened at nursery,” she said.

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The child had identified the abuse was carried out by a man with the watch – the mother told the court they “immediately” knew who he was talking about as Bennett wore a smart watch which Child E “really liked”.

Bennett had previously pleaded guilty to 13 other charges relating to four of the five victims, who were aged two at the time, including charges of sexual assault.

Giving evidence during the trial, Bennett said he was exposed to “a lot of sexual activity on myself” when he was a child.

While he accepted that the contact between him and the toddlers was sexual, he denied having a sexual attraction to them.

“As I stated I think already, it was emulating what I had experienced as a child – presuming it was to make them happy and feel better,” said Bennett.

Prosecutor Virginia Cornwall described the case as “every parent’s nightmare”.

“He has admitted his sexual interest, that the Crown says, he has in pre-school-age boys, toddlers, essentially two and three years of age, by his partial guilty pleas to some of the charges in this case,” she said.

The defendant previously pleaded guilty to 13 other 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.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Bennett abused his position of trust at the nursery in the most shocking and appalling way imaginable. Child sexual abuse can have lifelong impact on children and their loved ones, and our thoughts are with all the families caught up in this horrific case. It is vital they receive the support they need to process what they have experienced and move forwards with their lives.”