A paedophile nursery worker abused children in his care for years was ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’, a court heard.
Vincent Chan spent almost two decades sexually assaulting and taking covert pictures of children after working in schools and a nursery across north London.
He was finally caught when a colleague at the £2,000-a-month Bright Horizons Finchley Road nursery in north London raised concerns about her experienced colleague’s behaviour.
The 45-year-old British national was suspended and the police called in – only to find a sickening cache of thousands of images and videos documenting his hideous crimes.
He is being sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court after admitting 56 offences.
Prosecutor Philip Stott told the hearing: ‘On 25 May 2024, a referral was made by the nursery about the defendant as he had been filming children in his care who were clearly distressed, crying, wetting themselves or eating their own mucus, superimposing audio or imagery over the videos in an apparent attempt at humour.’
Around 20 family members of children previously at the nursery were in court for the hearing.
The youngest victim was just two years old, while he also secretly filmed a woman in her 70s, the court heard.
Prolific paedophile Vincent Chan has been jailed today after admitting 56 offences
The 45-year-old British national has worked in childcare settings for the best part of a decade
Chan, of Stanhope Avenue in Finchley, pleaded guilty to a slew of charges including five counts of sexual assault by penetration, four counts of sexual assault by touching, 11 counts of voyeurism, and 23 counts of taking indecent images of children. One of the images was named ‘jailbait’, the court heard.
He also admitted six counts of outraging public decency – also known as upskirting – one sexual assault on a female by touching a woman’s breasts while she was asleep, and six counts of making indecent images of children.
The offending dates back to 2007, and involves at least 20 female victims, including girls as young as two-years-old, although police believe there may be other victims who have yet to be identified.
He was a supply teacher across primary and secondary schools in north London from 2006 to 2007, although there was no evidence of offending during this time.
It was after he joined St Mary’s Church of England School in Finchley, in October 2007, that Chan is believed to have begun targeting vulnerable children. He was initially hired as IT support, but also occasionally took classes.
It is understood he was responsible for photographing and filming events such as performances and trips for the school website.
He worked at Bright Horizons from 2017, sexually abusing at least four little girls aged between two and four after passing an advanced vetting process and reference checks to become an art specialist.
He later became a nursery nurse and was promoted to room leader. But this is thought to have limited his access to children, so he asked to be demoted to his former role, in which he fed, dressed and cleaned children.
Police body-worn footage shows the moment police officers arrest suspended nursery worker Chan in his bicycle helmet
He was suspended from work the day a staff member raised concerns about Chan’s ‘unusual and inappropriate’ behaviour on the staff iPad and other communal devices in June 2024, after he showed her a video of a child falling asleep in their food which he had set to music.
He was arrested on suspicion of child neglect days later – but police quickly discovered evidence he had been abusing and filming very young girls in his care.
The court heard police discovered more than 25,000 indecent images of children.
Sometimes, the explicit images were composites using pictures of children he previously knew taken from their social media, superimposed with his own face.
Chan, wearing a grey jumper and joggers, with glasses and his hair in a bun, spoke to confirm his identity and confim he had previously pleaded guilty to the charges.
The court heard Chan, who secreted cameras in home to covertly spy on women, had no previous convictions.
Mr Stott said: ‘They were of female children aged two to four years old in the defendant’s care attending the nursery.
‘In many instances they showed the defendant sexually abusing the children, and some images were organised in folders with the label of the first name of the girl in question.
‘They appeared to have been taken initially with iPads of makes consistent with those issued by the nursery for staff use, and had then later transferred to the defendant’s home computer.’
Alison Millar from law firm Leigh Day, representing family members whose children was under Chan’s supervision
His victims – all women – said they felt ‘violated’, ‘frightened’, and ‘disgusted’ in powerful statements read before the court, which described Chan as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.
In a particularly sinister twist, one mother described how Chan gave her daughter a farewell card he had designed upon her leaving his nursery – the parent unaware Chan filmed himself sexually abusing her.
Reading from her statement, prosecutor Philip Stott said: ‘She (mum) thought that to be a kind and thoughtful gesture which she kept in the home for a year.
‘But learning the truth has been deeply distressing.’
One of his child victims, who is now an adult, said she experienced ‘a new sense of fear’ since becoming aware of his crimes.
‘Now I am edgy and jumpy, I struggle to walk alone in the dark,’ she said.
‘I have always had positive experiences with men, but this has changed that.’
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford speaking outside Wood Green Crown Court, after Chan previously admitted a raft of sexual offences
A former colleague, who Chan sexually assaulted, described how she had no idea about his dark criminal exploits.
She said: ‘You have proven, even in sleep, there is no guaranteed safety when a predator is allowed to hide in plain sight.
‘You have spent the last 15 years building a lie on the secrets of others.
‘Today that ends.’
A statement on behalf of the community described how parents ‘blame ourselves’ for failing to keep their own children safe.
They added: ‘What should have been a time of safety and innocence has now become a time of distress.’
Another woman added: ‘I trusted you, but the truth was I was never safe with you.’
Chan was previously employed at the Bright Horizons nursery in West Hamstead. Pictured the headquarters in the US
Although he pleaded guilty to all charges, Chan has yet to explain why he carried out his offending.
Defence counsel Nicholas Jones admitted his client had ‘limited’ mitigation, but said Chan pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
He said: ‘He has a problem – he doesn’t want to be the person that he is, and is willing to get help.’
Three people in the public gallery left the court briefly as Mr Jones got to his feet.
And some of those who remained reacted with apparent anger as Mr Jones said the most serious offences would not happen again because Chan would not be permitted to work with children upon his release.
Police have contacted the families of around 1,200 children thought to have been in Chan’s care since his career began.
The Bright Horizons branch where Chan preyed on vulnerable children has now closed down.
A spokesman for the nursery chain, which is facing legal action from a group of parents over the abuse, said: ‘We are shocked and appalled by this individual’s horrific crimes. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the children and families affected, and we are committed to offering support to them during this incredibly difficult time.
‘Whilst this individual’s actions came to light after a colleague raised concerns and followed our whistle-blowing procedures to report him, we fully accept that the evidence shows the individual was able to commit these crimes despite our safeguarding measures.
‘In light of this, we have commissioned an external expert in this field to undertake a full review of our safeguarding practices.’
Earlier this week nursery worker Nathan Bennett was convicted of eight charges including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, relating to five children aged two or three at the Partou King Street nursery in Bristol.
The 30-year-old will be sentenced next month.
It comes more than 15 years after nursery worker Vanessa George, 55, filmed herself sexually abusing 30 children at Little Teds in Plymouth, Devon, before distributing the videos. She was jailed in 2009 and freed in 2019.
Last November, nursery worker Thomas Waller, was sentenced to ten years at a young offenders’ institute after raping infants at a nursery in Surrey when he was 17.
Roksana Lecka, 22, was jailed for eight years in September after admitting ‘badly harming’ 21 infants at a nursery in Twickenham, south-west London.
:: A dedicated NSPCC helpline has been set up for anyone affected by Chan’s offending, on 0800 028 0828, which operates from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am-6pm at weekends.
To make a report to police about Chan, contact OpLanark@met.police.uk, or call 101 from within the UK, quoting the reference CAD3697/1DEC.
