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| Nursery worker names sex victims | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A nursery worker who abused young children in her care has named some of her victims. | |
| Vanessa George, who pleaded guilty to abusing children at Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, had previously refused to identify the children. | |
| A senior police source told BBC News the families of the children have been told of the development. | |
| George, 39, from Plymouth, will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 13 November. | George, 39, from Plymouth, will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 13 November. |
| Colin Blanchard, 39, from Rochdale, and Angela Allen, also 39, from Nottingham, will also be sentenced after they pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges. | Colin Blanchard, 39, from Rochdale, and Angela Allen, also 39, from Nottingham, will also be sentenced after they pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges. |
| Disowned by family | |
| The three abusers met on the social networking site Facebook then began exchanging messages and images via mobile phones and e-mails. | |
| The abuse began in September last year and they were arrested in June. | |
| George admitted 13 charges of indecently assaulting, taking indecent photos and distributing photos of children in her care. | George admitted 13 charges of indecently assaulting, taking indecent photos and distributing photos of children in her care. |
| Police estimated 30 babies and toddlers were victims, but they have been unable to identify them from the images. | |
| During police interviews, George admitted her crimes were "disgusting" and "vile", but until now she has rejected pleas from police, parents and her own estranged family to identify the children. | |
| George's husband, Andrew, and her two teenage daughters, have publicly disowned her. | |
| Judge John Royce warned the three abusers in court on 1 October they faced substantial prison sentences. | |
| Colin Blanchard (l) and Angela Allen exchanged images with George | |
| He also told George's lawyer Geoff Parlby it would be the "decent" thing for his client to co-operate with police in identifying the abuse victims. | |
| A spokeswoman for the lawyer said the firm would not be commenting on the situation. | |
| A senior officer told BBC South West's home affairs correspondent Simon Hall that George had named a number of the children she abused. | |
| In an official statement, Devon and Cornwall Police said: "As part of ongoing inquiries, detectives from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary are involved in a dialogue with George's defence counsel and the question of victim identification is part of that. | |
| "It would be inappropriate to go into this further until sentencing is complete. | |
| "We continue to update parents regularly regarding the investigation." | |
| Investigations were continuing, the statement added, but no individual child had yet been formally identified. | |
| Earlier this month, a child expert said because of the age of the victims, they should recover and grow up "unscarred" by the ordeal they suffered at George's hands. | Earlier this month, a child expert said because of the age of the victims, they should recover and grow up "unscarred" by the ordeal they suffered at George's hands. |