Third woman charged in child sex ring probe

A woman has been charged following an investigation that saw three other people including nursery worker Vanessa George admit child sex offences, police in the UK said tonight.

Tracy Lyons, 39, from Portsmouth, was arrested after a multi-force police inquiry that involved Little Ted’s Nursery, in Plymouth.

Lyons, who is reportedly a mother of seven and pregnant, appeared before magistrates in Portsmouth on Saturday, Hampshire police said.

She was charged with the sexual abuse of a child, taking an indecent image of a child, and distributing indecent images of a child.

The arrest followed information from Greater Manchester Police, who investigated Colin Blanchard, 39, from Rochdale.

He was a member of a paedophile ring which included George, 39, from Plymouth, and Angela Allen, 39, from Nottingham.

The three will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court next month for 37 child sex offences.

Lyons was remanded in custody and will appear in court again on January 18.

The news came as tapes from George's police interviews revealed her saying that she knew the abuse was “vile” and “disgusting”.

But George, whose husband Andrew took an overdose after her crimes were revealed, refused to name or identify any of her child victims.

On the tapes, released to the BBC, George claims Blanchard urged her to take indecent images after they met via Facebook.

She suggests her continued complicity was partly to keep his attention.

The trio exchanged thousands of email and mobile phone messages relating to child abuse, but none had met until they pleaded guilty on October 1.