molester, its director said yesterday.

Mrs. Ruby Smith said she did provide a character reference for Andrea Tucker, but "would never offer her her job back''.

"I have nothing against Andrea, but I have to protect my school, the children, and the parents,'' Mrs. Smith said.

In Supreme Court on Monday, Tucker was placed on three years probation for sexually molesting a boy she babysat between his sixth and 12th birthdays.

The molestation included kissing, fondling, oral sex and intercourse, the court was told.

Tucker, 36, of Spanish Point, worked for Kidds Kollege from 1985 until the charges were laid in 1992. But the offences occurred in a private home, not at the nursery school.

At the sentencing hearing, psychologist Dr. Norma Astwood said Tucker had improved so much in a year of counselling, she saw no reason why she could not work at a day nursery.

And Tucker's lawyer, Miss Patricia Harvey, claimed Tucker's former employers "would now like to have her back.'' Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward encouraged Tucker to return to work.

But no job offer was made, nor will it be made, Mrs. Smith said.

Despite repeated calls to her office and home, Miss Harvey could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Meanwhile, Crown counsel Mr. Stephen Harrison said the Attorney General's chambers was considering an appeal of Tucker's sentence.

Bermuda's Coalition for the Protection of Children called for an appeal in a news release yesterday.

The probation term "illustrates a shocking disregard for the gravity of this offence,'' the coalition said.

St. George's South MP Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP) also joined in the chorus and said a jail term should have been imposed. Also, "we need to start educating the judiciary,'' she said.

The character reference letter from Mrs. Smith said that in seven years at the nursery school Tucker was an excellent employee. "Not once was there any indication given, or any accusation made, to colour her care of the students from the positive to the negative,'' Mrs. Smith said.

"I earnestly believe that if this dark area of her past had not been revealed, Andrea more than likely would still be employed with us. We do miss her, and regret that we had to let her go.

"She served us very well.''