Surrey teen nursery employee detained over rape and abuse of children after boy, 3, informed his mum

A “dangerous” teen nursery worker from Surrey has been detained for 10 years after being convicted of raping and sexually abusing children as young as three years old.

Sick child rapist Thomas Waller, now 18, was handed his sentence at Guildford Crown Court for his depraves crimes which took place in 2024.

Sentencing him, Judge Claire Harden-Frost said it was “heartbreaking” to see the boys’ parents feeling responsible for what happened.

The judge sentenced him to 15 years at a young offender institution, of which he must serve 10 in detention and five on licence.

Waller sat in the dock wearing a white polo shirt and black coat, and did not react when he found out his sentence.

Judge Harden-Frost said Waller used his position at the nursery to sexually abuse the boys “within days of being able to supervise children going to the bathroom”.

“It’s heartbreaking that one of the effects of your actions is that the parents of your victims feel responsible,” she added.

The mum of one of the young victims said had found out what happened to her son when he told her he had been abused in a toilet at school.

She said: “He told me, in three-year-old terms, that he’d been sexually assaulted at nursery by one of the staff, which was very shocking for me to hear.

“On hearing that, I stayed very calm and asked him some questions about what he was telling me to try to get him to repeat it, and I was really questioning him in different ways to see if his story would stay the same and consistent, which it did.

“In fact, he was adding more and more explanation of what happened,” reports BBC. She then told the nursery, who reported it to the police and Waller was arrested the same evening.

Waller, who was newly-qualified to work with young kids, was found guilty of a number of offences, including rape, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and taking indecent images of children.

Waller was described by the mother of one of his victims as “a very dangerous individual”. She told BBC South East: “That he can do this at such a young age and in such a calculated way, I find very frightening.”

CPS barrister Rio Pahlavanpour told the BBC that he had sent a sentencing note to the court advising the offences were “too serious to be dealt with by the youth court”. He said: “I had said that, were he an adult, for the most serious offence he would receive a sentence of 13 years – that range being between 11 and 17 [years].”

The nursery where Waller raped and sexually abused children has said it took “immediate action” as soon as concerns were raised.

The Surrey-based private business, which cannot be named for legal reasons, said in a statement: “We were, and remain, deeply shocked, saddened and sorry to learn of the actions of a former member of our staff. The safety and wellbeing of the children in our care is, and always will be, our highest priority.

“As soon as concerns were raised, we took immediate action, contacting the police without delay, suspending the individual concerned, and fully co-operating with the investigation.

“Since then, we have carried out a full review and further strengthened our already robust safeguarding policies and staff training.

“We continue to work closely with the local authority and safeguarding professionals to ensure we uphold the very highest standards of care and protection for every child entrusted to us.

“Our thoughts remain first and foremost with the two children and their families affected. We have provided, and continue to provide, support to them, to our wider nursery community and to our staff.

“We are immensely grateful to all our parents and carers for their ongoing trust and support throughout this incredibly difficult and distressing time.

“Safeguarding and the wellbeing of our children have always been, and will always remain, our absolute priority.”

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