A British nursery worker formed part of a triangle of paedophiles who met on Facebook and subjected their victims to a catalogue of horrific child abuse.
Vanessa George (39), and her two accomplices Angela Allen and Colin Blanchard, abused children as young as 12 months old and recorded the acts on mobile phones.
All three pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court to a string of sexual assault offences and swapping indecent images.
They subjected their young victims to horrific sexual abuse involving various implements. They recorded the abuse on their mobiles and then swapped the pictures via email using unprotected accounts, including MSN Hotmail. They never met in person.
George was arrested at her home in Douglass Road, Plymouth on June 8th. Her arrest sparked public outrage and there were angry scenes at her first appearance at Plymouth Magistrates' Court. She was held following the arrest of Blanchard (38), who was caught by police at Manchester Airport after a colleague found obscene pictures on a work computer. Following further examination of Blanchard's computers, 39-year-old Allen, from Nottingham, was identified and arrested later in June.
George, who worked at a nursery in her home city of Plymouth at the time of the offences, has worked in childcare for nearly a decade. But she has no previous convictions and no complaints or allegations have been made about her in the past, police said.
As the investigation continued, police discovered the trio had exchanged thousands of texts and dozens of emails, goading each other to commit more depraved acts.
The public gallery at court was packed today with about 30 emotional parents who wept as the guilty pleas were entered.
George, wearing a black T-shirt and black trousers, hung her head as she admitted seven sexual assaults on children and six counts of distributing and making indecent pictures of children.
Blanchard, from Smallbridge, Greater Manchester, dressed in a blue sweater and tracksuit trousers, showed no emotion as he pleaded guilty to 17 child pornography counts and two sexual assaults on children. He also admitted a further charge of possessing extreme pornography.
Allen, wearing two-tone jeans and a blue jumper, wept as she pleaded guilty to four child sex assaults and one count of distributing an indecent image.
Mr Justice John Royce warned them they faced substantial prison sentences as he urged George to co-operate with police in identifying all her victims. Mr Justice Royce said many parents still do not know if their child was among the victims, but that George “must know”.
The judge adjourned the case, provisionally scheduling sentencing for November 13th.