Police review complaints over nursery worker case

Complaints from parents about how police handled an investigation into a nursery worker who continued working with children after his arrest are being reviewed by the force's professional standards department.

Kristian Parry, 26, was jailed in March after admitting to possessing indecent images of children as well as falsifying references to obtain a job at a nursery in Leeds.

Two months after he was arrested for the offences, he went on to secure work at another nursery while on bail.

West Yorkshire Police said its Professional Standards Directorate had "received a number of complaints relating to the original investigation" which were being reviewed and would be responded to.

Parry, of Middleton in Leeds, was found to have more than 5,000 images and videos on his laptop and mobile phone, some of which were category A pictures showing the most severe kinds of abuse.

He admitted fraud, making indecent images and possessing a prohibited image of a child and was jailed for two years at Leeds Crown Court.

The fraud charge related to false references he provided to the nursery where he was arrested, having been dismissed from his previous job - also at a nursery - for alcohol abuse.

Police previously confirmed that none of the charges had been related to the children in Parry's care.

After he was sentenced, it emerged Parry, who was first arrested in May last year, had gone on to get a job at another nursery just eight miles (14km) away.

Parents of children at both nurseries found out about his crimes after reading a report on the BBC News website and at the time said they were shocked and upset that they had not been informed.

One parent, whose child attended the nursery Parry went to work at in July, said they had received a letter from police "a few weeks ago" but described the communication as the "bare minimum".

He said: "They were really bad to begin with because we didn't know anything about this until we saw it on the news so we couldn't feed into things."

He said he had tried to contact police on two occasions via the non-emergency number, but no one had got in touch.

He added: "I'm not impressed with the communication, it's been bare minimum and they were well below that to begin with."

A second parent said: "When he's got these indecent images on his computer, how can someone say 100% they're not of my children?"

He said nursery staff had been "badly deceived" by Parry and were "just as hurt" as parents.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson for the force said: "We recognise that parents, guardians and members of the wider community continue to have concerns about the fact that an individual convicted of offences involving indecent images of children was previously employed in a number of nursery settings.

"We understand how distressing this remains for those affected."

They added that, as a result of further information coming to light since Parry was jailed, a new investigation had started into a possible offence of fraud by false representation and the inquiry was ongoing.

They said, while the new investigation was into a reported fraud offence, the force had "taken on board the feedback" received from families.

"[We] are ensuring that we are updating parents and guardians where possible on this investigation to allay any additional concerns they may have," the force added.

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