A teenage nursery worker faces a “substantial” custodial sentence for sexually assaulting eight of the young children he was employed to look after. Jayden McCarthy, now aged 18 but 16 at the time of the offences, assaulted seven girls and one boy at the family-run Jack and Jill Childcare nursery in Torquay, Devon. McCarthy, from Brixham in Devon, was arrested after a girl went home in July 2019 and told her mother he had carried out a serious sexual assault on her. Police spoke to more than 100 families who attended the nursery and McCarthy was eventually put on trial for attacks on eight children between the ages of two and four. Judge David Evans told him: “You have been found guilty on the clearest possible evidence of grave sexual offences against young and very young children at a time when you yourself were a youth. You face a substantial sentence of custodial detention.” Sentencing was adjourned for a presentence and psychiatric report to be prepared and McCarthy was remanded on conditional bail. Jason Beal, prosecuting, told Exeter crown court there were no adult witnesses to the assaults, but when police examined 250 hours of CCTV from the nursery, 13 incidents were identified. The jury heard McCarthy joined the nursery in March 2019 as an apprentice. He produced references and checks were carried out to ensure he was not barred from working with children. He underwent further training and there were no concerns about him, the court was told, though some staff said he was immature and he let the children throw toys around and climb all over him. The sexual assaults came to light when a girl told her mother what had happened after returning home wearing different clothes to those she had gone in with. Giving evidence, the mother said her daughter had described McCarthy as a “bad man”. Her father said he had asked her if what had happened took place over a long or short period. “She said: ‘It was for a long time daddy’,” he told the court. “I said: ‘Thank you sweetheart, you have done nothing wrong’.” McCarthy was suspended and asked to leave the nursery while an investigation was launched. Social services were contacted and the police were informed. The teenager insisted during his trial he had never touched a child sexually or for sexual gratification and he denied being sexually aroused by children. The nursery, which was in a quiet residential road, has closed. On its website it had said: “The nursery is privately owned and family run and we provide quality care in a homely setting for babies and children from birth to school age.” After an inspection in 2016, Ofsted concluded: “Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding. The management team ensures they are clear about what they need to do if they have any concerns about a child’s welfare. It regularly checks staff suitability and reviews the quality of their practice. Safeguarding is effective.” McCarthy was found guilty of one count of rape and 13 of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 in relation to the nursery. He was found guilty of two further rapes not connected to it. A spokesperson for the children’s charity the NSPCC said: “This is an awful case in which a number of very young children, and their families, have been affected and will need support to overcome. “The bravery and courage shown in giving evidence is truly commendable. It has helped bring this offender to justice and we hope that the conviction gives all those impacted by this abuse some measure of closure.”