Ex-Nursery Worker Gets 10-Year Sentence for Abusing Boys

Thomas Waller, an 18-year-old former nursery worker, was sentenced to 10 years in a young offender institution on Friday at Guildford Crown Court for sexually abusing two three-year-old boys at a private nursery in Surrey last summer. The offenses, which occurred over two weeks in August 2024, involved assault, inciting the children to engage in sexual activity, and taking indecent images of one of the victims.

Waller, who was 17 at the time, had recently qualified through a college course to work with children and began his role at the unnamed Surrey nursery in July 2024. His duties included supervising bathroom visits and assisting with clothing changes. Court proceedings revealed that he exploited these responsibilities to isolate the boys, known in reports as Child D and Child T, during toilet breaks after lunch. Prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour told the court that Waller had built trust with the children before forcing them into sexual acts on multiple occasions, including oral rape of one boy and molestation of the other. Indecent photographs of Child T were later found on Waller's mobile phone during the police investigation.

The abuse came to light when Child D disclosed the...