Mr Wrong

'I had been living and working in Clapham, south London, for several months, looking after two children aged six months and three. It was a live-in job but because my employers' house was being renovated I was given my own flat across the road for the time being. I was happy in my work and enjoying a good social life.

'One night at the end of last year another nanny took me along to a pub to introduce me to a friend of hers who worked there as a barman. She had known this man for about two years and said how nice he was, so nice, in fact, that she had often invited him to spend time with her family, including her own children. I thought he was nice, too, and was really pleased when he asked me out. We went out about five times and I liked him a lot. In fact, I thought he was the nicest bloke I had ever met and he treated me like a princess, even though I knew he didn't have much money. We had several meals out and went Christmas shopping together. He had no plans to go to his home in Ireland for the holiday and I thought it was perhaps because he couldn't afford the fare. In fact I offered to loan him some money, but he said he didn't want to go home because he didn't get on with his family. I supposed that was why he said very little about his background.

'I told him plenty about me, though. I talked about my job and the children and even suggested he might meet them some time and perhaps we could babysit together. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about that idea.

'Everything seemed to be going so well. Then, out of the blue, I got a call from a woman who told me she was his probation officer and that I needed to know that he was a convicted child sex offender. She had found out about our relationship because he was living in a probation hostel and was not allowed to stay out later than 11 pm without permission. When he kept asking for a late pass she became suspicious. He told her about me but said that I worked in public relations.

'You can imagine how I felt when I heard that he had spent 18 months in prison in Ireland for sex offences and then had re-offended when he came to London. "Fiddling with children" was how the probation officer described it. I was devastated.

'Worse was to come when I was visited by the police. I think they handled the situation badly. They told me that as long as I gave them all the information I could, they wouldn't need to tell my employer. But they did, anyway. It wasn't that I was being deliberately dishonest - I honestly just did not know how to tell her. I found it difficult enough telling my own mother.

'My boss seemed understanding and she could tell I was completely shattered. In fact, she tried to give me a morale boost by telling me what a fantastic nanny I was, and I continued to look after the children for the next three days. Then it was Christmas and I went off on a skiing holiday.

'When I came back there was a letter from my employer giving me notice. I was upset because I could not see how I could have done anything to prevent what happened. There was absolutely no reason to mistrust this man I'd started going out with. However, I understood that the children's safety was paramount and he had walked me home at night, so he knew where they lived.

'I have since returned to my home town. No one will employ me as a nanny, which hurts because I absolutely loved nannying. But I am working in a day nursery now and hope my career will progress there. It was an awful experience but I have managed to bounce back, especially as I know that I did absolutely nothing wrong.

'It has made me realise how vulnerable a nanny can be, though, and my advice is never to discuss your job or the children with anyone else and never to take anyone back to the house without an employer's permission.' Names have been changed. Picture posed by model