Nursery: child porn accused joins trial

A man accused of possessing child porn appeared in court today to have his case sent to be joined with that of nursery worker Vanessa George.

Colin Blanchard, 38, from Littleborough, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester for a brief hearing for his case to be sent to Plymouth Crown Court so he can stand trial there later this year alongside his co-accused, George.

Blanchard, who is in custody, is charged with four offences - distributing, making and possessing indecent images of children and the possession of extreme pornographic images.

Following his arrest, mother-of-two George, 39, who worked at the Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth, was also arrested and the nursery, which caters for up to 60 children, closed as part of the investigation into child abuse by Devon and Cornwall Police.

Blanchard will next appear at Plymouth Crown Court on 10 July.

George has already been remanded in custody charged with several counts of sexual assault and distributing indecent images. She will next appear before Plymouth Crown Court on 21 September.

In a separate development last week, a second woman was arrested as part of the same investigation.

Angela Allen, 39, from Bulwell, Nottingham, was remanded in custody at Nottingham Magistrates' Court charged with 16 counts of distributing, possessing and making indecent images of a child between April 2006 and 17 June this year.