Nursery worker jailed for secretly filming children

Pic: SSALONSO

A nursery worker has been jailed for twelve months for secretly filming children at an after school club where he worked.

James Hoffman, 34, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Monday, the Sutton Guardian reports.

Hoffman, who is from Purley, was arrested in May this year after a hidden camera was found in the staff toilet in the nursery in Sutton where he worked.

He pleaded guilty on August 22 to eight charges of voyeurism and four of possession of indecent images of a child.

It is understood that Hoffman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, had worked for Jancett Nursery group for over 10 years before his arrest.

When police raided his home they found recordings of children, including from a hidden camera in a toilet and footage filmed over a fence of children playing in a garden.

The court heard it had not been possible to identify all the victims in the footage.

Hoffman, who was told by the judge he will be put on the sex offender register for ten years, could be out of prison in six weeks as he has already served part of his sentence.

Judge Daniel Flahive told the court:

“This is a very serious offence as you were in a were in a trusted position. You are anxious in the company of adults and unable to interact socially. I have read the psychiatric reports and it appears very likely you suffer from Aspergers, which goes some way to explain your behaviour. However, an immediate custodial sentence is necessary due to the invasion of privacy and your abuse of trust.”

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