A teenager has been charged today, Wednesday 22nd April in connection with allegations of sexual offences at a Torquay nursery last year.
The 17-year-old male suspect will appear at Youth Court in due course charged with the following offences:
· One count of rape against a child
· 13 counts of sexual touching against eight children
· Further to the above he has been charged with two counts of historic rape. These two charges are not linked to the nursery, Jack and Jills Childcare on Courtland Road.
The nursery has since closed.
A multi-agency response involving Police, Local Authority, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group and Ofsted, was launched to investigate the allegation of sexual assault in July last year.
In a statement in relation to anonymity, Devon and Cornwall Police said: “In the meantime, we need to remind the public of the law surrounding this matter.
“Any alleged victim of a sexual crime is automatically granted anonymity for life; regardless of age and the outcome of any subsequent criminal trial.
“Any suspect under the age of 18 is also by law not allowed to be identified.
These rules are not solely for media organisations to adhere to, they also apply to members of the public and includes information posted via social media.
“Any breach of anonymity may be seen as interfering with a live investigation and an active criminal trial, and therefore could see those who do not adhere found in contempt of court. This means that they could find themselves called before a judge and ultimately receive a criminal record as a consequence.
“We therefore remind the public that it is vital that they do not speculate on the identity of either the victim or the suspect in this case,”
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