Keep this vile woman who abused 64 babies locked up, insist MPs
MPs will today demand that prolific paedophile Vanessa George is kept behind bars for her shocking abuse of nursery school toddlers.
They will meet in Parliament to pile pressure on ministers to keep the predator jailed after parole experts concluded she was no longer a risk to children. Labour MP Luke Pollard is also set for showdown talks with the Ministry of Justice amid public outcry.
Working as a special needs coordinator, George, 48, used her trusted position to harm babies and toddlers and film the abuse on her phone. She was jailed in 2009 for a minimum of seven years.
Mr Pollard, who represents Plymouth where the crimes took place, said: “A system that releases Vanessa George early is a system not working properly.
“The only way we can do something is if public pressure can be translated into political action.
“There is a heartfelt view from the left to the right that this woman shouldn’t be on the streets. The parole board ignored the pleas of families and the views of the country. It’s simply not good enough.”
The nursery worker was jailed for documenting the abuse of 64 babies at Little Ted’s Nursery in Devon and sharing the videos with fellow predators. She has yet to come clean over exactly who she targeted.
Her imminent release follows a string of controversial decisions by the parole board including one, later reversed, to free black cab rapist John Worboys, 62.
Although the Ministry of Justice has no power to interfere with the parole board’s decision, one avenue is a judicial review, which anyone can bring to challenge the original sentence as “unreasonable”. Mr Pollard has triggered a Westminster Hall debate which is set to be attended by scores of MPs.
He said: “She should not be coming out, certainly not for the duration of the childhoods of the people she abused. I can’t see how she is safe to be around kids.”
George, who has changed her name to Vanessa Sylvia Marks, was publicly disowned by her two daughters and divorced by her husband Andrew while in jail. Andrew, 51, said: “While she is returned to society, possibly with a new look and identity, I face a life sentence knowing this nightmare will never disappear.” George confessed to seven sexual assaults on young children and six counts of distributing and making indecent pictures. Sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said she had “plumbed new depths of depravity”. But in its ruling the parole board said: “Witnesses described Ms George’s good behaviour in prison. All recommended she be released as ... she had reduced her risk of causing harm to a level where ... it would be manageable in the community.”
The Ministry of Justice said: “We understand this will be a difficult decision for victims and their families. Vanessa George will be banned from working with children and faces a return to prison should she fail to comply.”