THE father of a boy who was sexually assaulted by a former zoo worker says he will never forgive the attacker.

Vile David Pennery sexually assaulted the boy four times when his victim was aged just four and five.

Pennery, who worked at Colchester Zoo at the time of the sex attacks, is set to be jailed next month.

The victim’s father said the attacks turned his family’s lives “upside down” but he is ready to move on as soon as Pennery is behind bars.

The dad, who lives in Colchester, said: “Our lives fell apart when we found out what had been going on.

“Words can’t describe what I felt.

“You have anger, you feel sick to your stomach and you wonder what you could have done to stop it.

“I will never, ever, forgive him.”

At least one of the attacks took place at Colchester Zoo.

When 25-year-old Pennery, of Circus Square, Colchester, was arrested, police also found hundreds of indecent images of children on his laptop, which were downloaded between April 2013 and December 2015.

Pennery also faced two child rape charges and had been due to stand trial for them today.

That trial will not now go ahead.

The victim’s dad said: “We just did not want to put our boy through it.

“He has been going to the Colchester-based Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse we have our boy back at about 85 per cent of where he was and we just didn’t want to bring it all back and make him go through it all.

“He has come so far and has improved so much with the help of the Cara staff.

“He is now a totally different boy to how he was 18 months ago.

“He has had to deal with so much so young.

“As soon as Pennery is behind bars, we can start again.”

Pennery has admitted four sexual assaults on a victim aged under 13 and five counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He was released from court on conditional bail until his sentencing.