A depraved female nursery worker was part of a vile ‘network’ which shared horrific child abuse images, a court heard today.
Zara Lancashire, 20, boasted to online paedophiles that she planned to abuse her own children when she had them.
She also claimed she had sexually assaulted children in her care – although a police investigation found no evidence that this had happened.
Lancashire, who worked at the Flower Pots Day Nursery in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, appeared for sentencing at St Albans Crown Court today after admitting 11 charges of distributing child sexual abuse material.
These included four of distributing indecent child images, three of making indecent images and four of publishing obscene articles.
Handing Lancashire a four-year jail term, Recorder Lana Wood said: ‘The age and the vulnerability of the children depicted is an aggravating factor.
‘An additional aggravating factor is that this collection included moving images.
‘You appeared to be actively involved in a network which facilitated the sharing of indecent images of children.’
Zara Lancashire, 20, was part of a vile ‘network’ which shared horrific child abuse images
She added: ‘I take into account your young age, although there is no evidence you were particularly immature for your age.’
Lancashire showed no emotion during the hearing but smiled and nodded throughout.
The defendant – whose Facebook page includes a disturbing former profile photo of her where half of her face appears as a devil – was arrested in front of shocked staff at the nursery on September 15, 2025.
She was detained following the arrest of a man whose electronic devices revealed he had shared obscene messages and indecent photos with her.
One 97-second long category A video Lancashire sent the man, who went by the username ‘Pervert’, involved a two-year-old child.
The nursery worker had the username ‘bubble penguin” on messaging platform Telegram and styled herself as ‘lil slut’ on Zangi.
Prosecutor Harry Laidlaw described her relationship with the other users as ‘transactional’, with Lancashire responding to messages by providing videos of her performing a sex act on herself.
The child abuse images distributed by Lancashire were all Category A, the most serious.
The depraved nursery worker boasted to online paedophiles that she planned to abuse her own children when she had them and falsely claimed she had sexually assaulted children in her care
Lancashire posted a profile photo on her Facebook account in 2022 which showed her face on one side and that of a devil on the other
Twisted messages she posted included ones expressing her desire and for others to sexually abuse her own future children, sent in June and July last year.
One sent on May 29 referred to how she was aroused by the children she cared for as a daycare worker.
Talking to another contact, ‘Mr. Bad’, the defendant claimed she had sexually abused some of them.
‘Youngest I’ve done stuff with is three months old,’ one message said.
Despite a thorough investigation, police have found no evidence Lancashire abused any of the children in her care.
More than 100 parents of children at the nursery were spoken to by officers, who concluded that all the offences were ‘committed online’ and not in her place of work.
Prosecutor Mr Laidlaw told the court: ‘She was more aware than the normal person of abuse, she was more aware of safeguarding, and more aware of the consequences of such actions.’
Madeleine Wolfe, representing Lancashire, told court ‘the messages weren’t indications of what Ms Lancashire intended’.
Flower Pots Day Nursery, where the defendant was arrested, said they were ‘committed as always to maintaining a safe and trusted environment for your children’
The court heard that after she was arrested, Lancashire co-operated fully with police and provided the PIN to her phone, as well as making a full admission of her activities.
Detective Inspector Fay Tooley, of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s public protection command, said: ‘Lancashire has been brought to justice for the offences she committed and, while our investigation found they didn’t involve the physical abuse of any children, they are still of an extremely serious nature.’
Lancashire had also been charged with sexual assault but this was discontinued at a previous hearing.
Flower Pots Day Nursery, which also operates in Buckinghamshire, was approached for a comment.
In a statement sent to parents prevously, the directors said: ‘We want to reassure you that we remain as committed as always to maintaining a safe and trusted environment for your children.’