Nursery apprentice denies sexually abusing nine children

A childcare apprentice has appeared at Exeter Crown Court accused of sexually abusing eight children and sexually assaulting and raping a child at a nursery in Torquay.

Credit: Shutterstock/Robyn of Exeter

Jayden McCarthy, aged 18, denies all the charges which are one count of rape and 13 counts of sexual assault of a child. He is also charged with two further rapes not connected to the nursery.

Mr McCarthy from Bridgewater, Somerset, who was 16 at the time, joined the nursery in March 2019 where he produced references and was checked on the barring lists for working with children.

Police arrested Mr McCarthy after one of the girls attending the nursery told her mum that he had inappropriately touched her.

According to evidence, the defendant was caught on CCTV sexually assaulting children on various days over a period between 10 to 29 July 2019.

Police viewed 250 hours of footage after the three-year-old girl described the sexual assault to her mum.

The prosecution claimed he carried out the offences while applying sun cream or by encouraging the children to crawl over him on the floor or in the toilet block at the nursery.

The court also heard that Mr McCarthy denied all the allegations in police interviews and said he had never engaged in any inappropriate touching and had no sexual interest in children.

The nursery cannot be named for legal reasons and has since closed. The trial continues.