Birmingham Authorities Knew Of Child Abuser

27 August 2013, 18:56 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A serious case review's found warning signs were ignored before a man went on to seriously sexually assault a child at a Birmingham nursery where he worked.

23 year old Paul Wilson was jailed for life in 2011 after admitting the abuse at Little Stars nursery in Nechells.

The inquiry's found council workers, Ofsted and staff at the nursery in Birmingham all failed to act...knowing he had a 'special relationship' with the child

In a statement, a spokesman for Birmingham City Council said the authority was sorry that it had failed to properly respond to concerns about Wilson.

Wilson is known to have raped the toddler on separate occasions about six months apart during his employment at Little Stars, which began in October 2009.

At least six members of staff at the nursery raised concerns about Wilson's behaviour before his arrest, but he continued to work there despite receiving a written warning.

The spokesman said: ''As Jane Held states the first responsibility must sit with the perpetrator and with the nursery.

''The council had a responsibility in terms of responding to reports of Paul Wilson's behaviour rather than preventing it.

''Birmingham City Council fully acknowledges that a referral to us was not followed through, and that this meant that Paul Wilson was able to continue undetected for a longer period.

''The council is very sorry that it failed to properly respond to the concerns about Paul Wilson. Improving our services to children remains our top priority.''

Louise Soden, Ofsted's Regional Director for West Midlands said:

"We very much regret that our inspection regime in 2010 did not help to stop this dangerous and manipulative child abuser sooner.

"We have long since strengthened our inspection and investigation practices to tighten the processes that existed at the time. Local authorities have the lead responsibility for investigating child protection matters and we have worked to clarify our respective roles so that nothing falls through the net.

"We will carefully study today's report to determine whether there are any further steps we could take."

The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) is calling for legislation to make it a criminal offence to fail to report suspected or known abuse.

Pete Saunders, the charity's chief executive, said: ''Mandatory reporting is long overdue in this country.

''Parents will probably be shocked to learn that that such legislation does not already exist.

''Staff who suspect abuse may report it, but face no sanction for failing to report.''