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Families of victims of a paedophile are taking legal action against a north London nursery where their children were abused, as they allege a “consistent culture of brushing concerns aside”.
Vincent Chan, 45, is facing prison for molesting girls aged between two and four while working at the now-closed Bright Horizons nursery in Finchley Road, West Hampstead.
Initially, 12 families were set to take legal action against the nursery, as first outlined in a letter to Bright Horizons in December. Now 46 families are part of the claim, the legal firm Leigh Day said.
In a statement issued by the firm on Sunday, the families said: “What has happened here is not just about one individual or one nursery. We believe Chan’s crimes raise serious questions about how childcare providers recruit, supervise and safeguard staff, and how warning signs can be overlooked over long periods of time.
“In our case, Bright Horizons repeatedly dismissed concerns from parents about Chan’s behaviour, and we believe their consistent culture of brushing concerns aside was key to enabling this catastrophe to happen.”
The firm added: “They will be seeking full accountability for those failures, initially through the civil courts, and are also urging Camden council to investigate the case for prosecution of Bright Horizons as a corporate entity.”
The 46 families are made up of relatives of the victims of Chan’s sexual abuse and image-based offending, as well as those whose children were mistreated by him in other ways, including when he made videos of children humiliated or in distress.
The sex offender admitted 30 new offences at Highbury Corner magistrates court on Thursday relating to 10 girls and six women that did not take place at the nursery. Chan will be sentenced on 12 February for the 56 offences to which he has pleaded guilty.
The families taking action said they were “seeking accountability” through claims of breach of contract for Bright Horizons’ safeguarding failures that permitted Chan to commit his crimes, as well as neglect and cruelty, Leigh Day said.
It said Camden Safeguarding Partnership was conducting a local child safeguarding practice review of the nursery.
Alison Millar, the head of Leigh Day’s abuse team, said: “Families understandably are extremely concerned that a perpetrator was able to work at the nursery for so many years and misuse nursery devices to facilitate his offending.”
A spokesperson for Bright Horizon previously said: “First and foremost, our thoughts remain with the children and families affected. What happened at our former Finchley Road nursery was an appalling breach of trust by one individual and not representative of the thousands of experienced and dedicated staff who work tirelessly each day to look after the children in our care.
“The safety and wellbeing of children entrusted to our care is our highest priority. We are committed to learning any lessons that can be taken from this terrible case. We fully support the child safeguarding practice review (CSPR) and hope that it will be beneficial for families, for us as a provider and for the early years industry as a whole.
“It would be premature to comment on any matters relating to our former nursery whilst the CSPR’s process is ongoing. Parents are invited to contribute to this review and we would encourage them to participate so that information can be obtained and considered.”
The families of 700 children who attended the nursery during the time Chan worked there between 2017 and 2024 have been contacted and are receiving specialist support.
Bright Horizons has been contacted for comment.
