December 2016

Nursery boss branded ‘sadistic’ over shocking child cruelty

A “sadistic” nursery boss has admitted a string of shocking cruelty charges against children as young as one.

A judge said Christine Button was guilty of behaviour which “went out in the Dark Ages”.

A court heard the 56-year-old ruled by fear at her nursery, called On The Button and based at Dordon, near Tamworth 

She repeatedly targeted a boy aged around four – dragging him around, hitting him up to five times because he was crying and making him sit on the floor alone for more than two hours.

Another child, a girl of four, was made to sit at a table for two hours because she would not eat an apple.

A second girl, aged three, was forced to sit in her wet clothes for up to 45 minutes after she had accidents while potty training.

And a one-year-old girl was made to sit on the floor in Button’s office for more than an-hour-and-a-half, Warwick Crown Court was told.

Police were alerted after two concerned apprentices at the nursery told their college tutor.

Button, a former childminder, denied mistreating the children and only admitted what she had done days before her trial had been due to start.

She pleaded guilty to four child cruelty charges and was handed a 12-month suspended sentence.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told her: “You behaved very badly towards children who were entrusted to your care by parents who paid you to look after them in a way they thought would be appropriately loving and caring.

“You demonstrated a cruel streak.

“You acted towards those four children in a sadistic manner, and in a way that was very far removed from any type of appropriate care.

“This type of behaviour is wholly inappropriate.

“It went out with the Dark Ages.

“This was more than one incident, it was sadistic conduct.”

The judge told her not to try to work with children and said the Disclosure and Barring Service may consider a formal ban.

Button, formerly of Everglade Road, Wood End, near Tamworth, was also ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid work, made subject to an overnight curfew for four months and made to pay £600 costs.

Simon Hunka, prosecuting, said the two apprentices grew concerned over Button’s behaviour as they combined working at the nursery with their college studies in 2014.

He said: “They took the brave step, seeing the disparity between what they were seeing and what they were being taught, of telling their tutor, which led to Ofsted and later the police being informed.”

It emerged that Button had created an intimidating atmosphere and there would be consequences for anyone who challenged her, Mr Hunka said.

He told the court that Button would deliberately upset the children – convinced it would cause long-term changes in their behaviour.

When a staff member challenged her, she claimed to be trained in the psychological manipulation of children, and that she was “building them up to be better-behaved in the future”.

But Mr Hunka said her conduct was “simply cruel”.

The four-year-old boy’s mother said her son would hide in the back of the car when they arrived at the nursery, shaking and saying he did not want to go in.

And the mum of the four-year-old girl became concerned when she heard her daughter say: “Go to my office. You’re not having any lunch” as she played at home.

Paul Fleming, defending, said the matter had serious financial implications for Button and her husband.

She had to pay a penalty for ending her lease on the nursery premises early, she and her family lost their home and had relocated to Devon.