MP urges former Plymouth paedophile nursery worker to name all victims
A former paedophile nursery worker from Plymouth has faced fresh demands to name the children she abused to help ease their suffering.
Labour MP Luke Pollard warned Vanessa George will “maintain a power” over her victims unless she names them.
She was jailed indefinitely in 2009 and told to serve a minimum of seven years behind bars for abusing toddlers at Little Ted’s Nursery in Plymouth.
George, who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse and taking and distributing indecent images of children, was released from prison in 2019 after serving 10 years.
Mr Pollard’s plea in the House of Commons comes as key legislation - known as ‘Helen’s Law’ - moved one step closer to becoming law, after MPs rejected a Lords amendment.
What is Helen's Law?
The Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Bill is named after Helen McCourt, whose murderer Ian Simms was released from prison earlier this year despite never revealing where her remains are.
The new legislation will place a statutory obligation on the Parole Board to take into account specific offenders’ non-disclosure of certain facts when making a decision about their release.
It will apply to prisoners serving a sentence for murder or manslaughter or for taking or making an indecent photograph of a child.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Pollard - who represents the Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency - said: “We don't believe every child at Little Ted's Nursery was abused by Vanessa George but we don't know which child was.
"That means every single family that sent their most precious gift in the world, their child, to this nursery is living with the uncertainty whether it was their child that was abused or not, whether it is their child whose image of that abuse is festering on some dark corner of the web.
"That is a cancer that eats away at you and the courage and determination of the families throughout this has been a real source of strength to me."
He concluded his speech by saying: "The final remark on this is to Vanessa George herself.
"She must know the names, she must know that naming the kids would enormously help the healing process and that is something I appeal to her to do because for as long as she holds those names, those families will not have peace, and I think that's a really important part."
The House of Lords had amended the Bill in a bid to ensure the families of some victims are kept informed when their killer or abuser is seeking release from prison.
They supported a proposal designed to prevent the distress suffered by relatives when they find out about an offender being freed via the press or social media.
The Bill now requires final approval from the Lords and, if no further amendments are made, it will progress towards receiving royal assent.
Read more: