The three nurseries in Droitwich, Redditch and Bromsgrove were placed under investigation last week, after a child told their parents that they had been abused while at one of the three nurseries.
Now six men in total have been arrested, but they have been released on police bail for two weeks while the investigation continues. All of the men are connected to the nursery chain in some way.
West Mercia police held meetings on 24 May to inform parents and any other parties that may have been affected to update them on any developments in the case.
Senior and specialist officers were on hand to give advice on how to discuss sensitive issues with young children.
Management at the nurseries has voluntarily closed all three branches and Ofsted has subsequently suspended their registration.
Police also revealed during these meetings that they found six small cannabis plants in a small private dwelling at the Droitwich setting, which will be dealt with in a separate investigation.
Detective superintendent Amanda Blakeman leads West Mercia’s Protecting Vulnerable People department, which is conducting the investigation and organised the meetings.
She said, ‘We have concerns about the way data was being controlled, managed and stored, in particular incomplete parent and guardian contact details that made it challenging for us to get in touch with all of those affected. This is why we have had to open a contact bureau for parents to call and use the media and social media to distribute our messages.’
‘We also found there has been a clear lack of control within the nursery setting, specifically at Droitwich, of unauthorised people having access to the childcare environment.’
‘The private meetings were designed for the needs of the parents and guardians and they were able to talk in confidence about these many difficult issues.
‘We fully understand the fears many of the parents have. We want to keep them as informed as possible and we hope the information and guidance passed on will help them deal with this difficult situation.’
Ofsted has rated all three of the nurseries as ‘Good’, but it has been several years since any of the the nurseries were inspected.
Droitwich was last inspected in 2009 and the most recent inspections at the Redditch and Bromsgrove settings were in 2010.