Nursery worker Jayden McCarthy guilty of sexually abusing toddlers in Devon
A teenager carried out a series of sex attacks on toddlers while working as a nursery assistant in South Devon.
Jayden McCarthy, aged 18, was found guilty of 16 child sex offences against nine children by a jury at Exeter Crown Court on Friday 28 May.
He raped a three-year-old girl at the nursery where he worked and carried out 13 sex assaults on children there. His victims at the nursery were aged between two and four.
He was also convicted on two counts of raping a boy five years earlier.
McCarthy got the job after providing references, being interviewed by the owners. He was not on any barring disclosure list because he had no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands.
Investigations began when a little girl went home from nursery wearing clothes different to the ones she arrived in.
The girl's parents raised the alarm after she told them McCarthy - who was 16 at the time - had "been naughty" to her while she was at nursery.
During a two-week trial at Exeter Crown Court, the jury heard distressing details from parents and nursery staff and as well as pre-recorded video testimony from the three-year-old girl.
In her own words, the girl described what he had done to her, using toys to illustrate what she meant.
The girl's father told the court: "It was such an unnatural and inherently wrong thing to her as the father of a little girl."
The court heard McCarthy was suspended immediately after the nursery manager had learnt of the allegations.
Police were alerted and officers examined 256 hours of CCTV from the nursery in South Devon.
Judge David Evans said: "You have been found guilty on the clearest possible evidence of grave sexual offences against young and very young children at a time when you yourself were a youth. You face a substantial sentence of custodial detention."
Sentencing was adjourned for a pre-sentence and for a psychiatric report to be prepared for 23 July.
McCarthy was remanded on conditional bail.
If you've witnessed an assault or think a child is in immediate danger contact the police on 999 or call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 without delay.
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