The chain has brought in senior staff to Norwood Manor nursery to carry out an investigation.
Andrew Smith worked at the 118-place West Norwood nursery in July and September this year as a temporary chef.
He was exposed after a member of the staff recognised him on a television programme, 'To Catch A Paedophile', broadcast on ITV last week, which followed an undercover police operation. Smith had been arrested, given a 12-month prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders' register on his release. After the programme was shown, he was re-arrested on suspicion of breaching a sexual offences prevention order.
Smith was taken on by CfBT after signing up with the Reed recruitment agency. Because he was seeking employment in the hospitality industry, he was not CRB-checked by Reed. However, he did sign a statement falsely saying he had no unspent convictions.
CfBT Education Trust said that staff who have not been CRB-checked should not work in its nurseries, and that it does not rely on third-party checks.
Wendy Woodcock, director of schools and nurseries, said, 'We have stringent processes and procedures to ensure safeguarding of children is rigorously managed.
'In this instance I am shocked and deeply sorry to say that our processes have failed us and for this I offer parents an unreserved apology. We are currently investigating how the procedures failed and have brought in the support of a senior and very experienced early years advisor to work with us to ensure this kind of incident never occurs again.'
