Ex-nursery worker jailed for filming sexual assaults on girls and voyeurism
A former nursery worker from Finchley in north London has been jailed today after pleading guilty to a raft of sexual offences including those committed at a daycare centre and a primary school.
Vincent Chan, 45, filmed himself sexually assaulting a number of young girls aged three and four while he worked at the Bright Horizons nursery on the Finchley Road in London from 2022 to 2024. He filmed indecent videos of two other girls but did not assault them.
Staff at the nursery raised the alarm when they found Chan filming humiliating images of some of the children in his care. These images were distressing but not of a sexual nature.
His actions led to Chan being charged with a total of 56 offences by the Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit in the Crown Prosecution Service. He pleaded guilty to all offences at earlier hearings.
Today he was sentenced to a total of 18 years in custody at Wood Green Crown Court.
Vincent Chan’s crimes
The Metropolitan Police investigation uncovered more than 26,000 indecent images of children on his personal computer. Of those 1,484 were still and moving images that fell into Category A which depicted the most severe types of sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to 26 offences related to his time at the nursery.
After more images were found on Chan’s electronic devices, he admitted a further 30 offences some of which were committed at St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Dollis Park, north London where he worked as a teaching assistant between 2007 and 2017. This included filming and taking “upskirting” images of female pupils as well as using AI software to superimpose the faces of female pupils onto indecent images depicting child sexual abuse. On one of his final days at the school Chan filmed a nine second video performing a sexual act on himself in a classroom. He also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an adult woman at his home, of covertly filming four women using his toilet, filming a neighbour as she got changed, and covertly filming another woman as she changed at work.
Helen Reddy, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said:
“Whether it was at the school, the nursery, inside his home or nearby, Vincent Chan was and is a serious danger to women and girls.
“He is a prolific sexual predator, and this sentence will ensure he cannot harm anyone.
“The evidence against him was overwhelming and I’m very relieved he admitted his guilt, so victims and their families didn’t have to sit through a trial.
“I’m grateful to them for supporting this case and encourage all victims of sexual abuse to go to the police.
“Victims will be listened to, and the CPS stands ready to consider charges regardless of how long ago they happened.”
Notes to editors
- On 3 December 2025 at Wood Green Crown Court, Vincent Chan pleaded guilty to 26 counts all committed at the Bright Horizons nursery:
- Five counts - Sexual assault of a child under 13 by penetration, contrary to section 6(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- Four counts - Sexual assault of a child under 13, contrary to section 7(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- Eleven counts - Taking indecent images of a child contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978.
- Six counts - Making indecent images of a child contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978.
- On 29 January 2026 at Highbury Magistrates Court he pleaded guilty to a further 30 counts committed at various locations including the St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, Dollis Park:
- Twelve counts - Taking indecent images of children
- Six counts - Committing acts of outraging public decency.
- One count – Sexual assault
- Eleven counts - Voyeurism
- An explanation of what each category means can be found here: Possession of indecent photograph of child/ Indecent photographs of children
- Helen Reddy is a Special Prosecutor in the Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit in the Crown Prosecution Service’s Serious Economic Organised Crime International Directorate.
In November 2025, we launched the CPS’s 2025-2030 Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which details how our prosecutors will continue to improve tackling VAWG in all forms