Nursery worker who raped boy, 3, and abused another locked up for 10 years

A ‘cold, calculated’ paedophile who used his job as a nursery worker to abuse children will spend a decade behind bars.

Thomas Waller was 17 years old and just three weeks into the role when he orally raped a three-year-old boy and sexually assaulted another of the same age.

A court heard the predator, now 18, also kept explicit photos of one of the boys on his phone.

He had only recently qualified to work with children when he joined the Surrey-based village nursery, which cannot be named for legal reasons, last year.

His duties included taking youngsters to the toilet and change their clothes when needed.

The abuse happened during bathroom visits on multiple occasions between July and August last year.

As well as molesting the boys, Waller also incited them to perform sex acts on him.

It was uncovered after one of the boys, named only as Child D made a disturbing confession to his mother at bedtime.

‘Tom [Waller] and me touched each other’s w***ies’, he said, adding: ‘We sucked them’.

The boy later told police Waller had put his hands on his penis and made him touch his own ‘more than once’, the court heard.

The following morning, the other boy, Child T, was playing with his mother and shocked her by touching his penis in a way that appeared to mimick masturbating.

The court heard he then said: ‘This is the way that Tom said we can play with our willies.’

Forensics officers found Waller’s DNA on child D’s underwear.

When he was arrested, indecent pictures of the other boy were found on his phone.

Waller was sentenced to 10 years in youth custody, followed by five years on license.

In a victim impact statement, Child D’s mum said of the moment her son confided in her about the abuse: ‘I could not believe that I was hearing. I wanted to have misheard him or misunderstood.

‘He did not know that what had happened was wrong but he knew it was different and wanted to share it.

‘My son is a kind, trusting boy and this man took advantage of that innocence and abused it.’

She said the boy later asked her if he ‘did a bad thing too’ by following Waller’s instructions, saying she was horrified that her ‘beautiful, brave’ son was left questioning himself.

The mother added: ‘We do not know what the long term impact on our son will be. I don’t think he will forget what was done to him.’

Child T’s mother said she was left suffering ‘anxiety and guilt’ for not being able to protect her son.

She told the court: ‘This man knew exactly what he was doing. His actions were deliberate and calculated. He preyed on young children. All children deserve to be safe from him.

‘The scars are not physical but emotional and psychological. He took the innocence of a three year old boy away. Every day I worry this will impact him for the rest of his life.’

The court heard he had completed a six-month work placement at another nursery between qualifying from college and starting at his role at the victims’ nursery.

The nursery where the abuse took place said it immediately contacted police and suspended Waller when concerns were raised, and has ‘carried out a full reviewand further strengthened our already robust safeguarding policies and staff training’.

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