There will always be bad people around, even with there being systems in place they will on occasion try to commit an offence.
Having looked briefly at the recent case, I've noticed that the media are not reporting all the facts... few mention the Ofsted report and compliance visits for example.
From the compliance report 3/3/11 Little Star's, Nechells B7
ensure that there is an effective safeguarding policy which includes the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff and that all staff are aware of the safeguarding policy
conduct a risk assessment of the premises both indoors and outdoors as well as activities provided in the nursery or on outings, and review it at least once a year or more frequently when the need arises
develop an effective induction programme for all new staff and ensure that adults looking after the children have appropriate training, skills and knowledge
ensure that all staff have contracts of employment which specify the terms and conditions of their employment, that job descriptions and specifications reflect the current requirements for the post and are used effectively as part of the settings recruitment procedures
take steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by producing and implementing an effective Whistle-blowing policy and a separate E-safety policy
produce and implement an effective code of conduct for staff which is known and understood by all staff
introduce an effective induction programme for all children to support staff's assessment of the child's starting points and improve systems and opportunities to share information and communicate with parents
produce and implement an effective disciplinary procedure which is known and understood by all staff
produce and implement and effective system of performance management including quality assurance monitoring to demonstrate that adults looking after children have appropriate qualifications, training, skills and knowledge
End of information from the compliance report
Reading this list may not mean much to you, or you may get a similar impression to me, in that the procedures in place at the nursery were not that great. In the summer of 2010 they picked up on safeguarding issues, same again this compliance report. Some staff it seems to me didn't have contracts of employment, induction training, know about some procedures.
Yes the nursery nurse abused a child (why someone would do that is beyond my understanding) but the lack of systems being in place to do with staffing I think may well have been a factor... it enabled that nursery nurse to have the opportunity to abuse a child. We don't know the details of the case, we don't know exactly where the abuse took place, so we don't know how it came about that it was not noticed by other members of staff.
in3minds - yes you should ask about what procedures are in place, for safe staff recruitment, for giving children as much privacy during toileting as possible whilst keeping staff safe from abuse allegations.
As a male childcare worker I work on my own but parents make the recruitment decision, they don't rely on someone else to do that. At a nursery you are letting someone else decide on who to recruit, so you need to trust them to make the right judgement and monitor the situation (effective system of performance management).
Cases like this most recent one really affect me as parents may see any bloke working with children as being an abuser. I wish there was a way to stop such people entering the profession, alas you can't predict what someone might do in the future (only in the movies: Minority Report).