An indecent image feared to show a suspected fourth member of the Facebook paedophile gang has now been confirmed to be unrelated, police said.
Nursery worker Vanessa George, and her two accomplices Angela Allen and Colin Blanchard, all admitted abusing children and recording the acts on their mobile phones, earlier this week.
Detectives were concerned that one image found among the gang's horde could have shown a fourth member.
But Devon and Cornwall Police said it was a "random" image downloaded from the web, not related to the trio's twisted enterprise.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman also added: "We're satisfied this image was not taken by George and it's not connected to the nursery in any way."
George, 39, who worked at Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, Devon, Allen, 39, from Nottingham, and IT dealer Blanchard, 38, of Manchester, now await sentence for the horrific catalogue of child sex abuse.
Meanwhile, officers are planning to interview George once again - for the sixth time - in a bid to identify the toddlers and babies she abused.
Police have been unable to identify a single child in any of the images found on George, Blanchard and Allen's computers.
The judge adjourned the case, provisionally scheduling sentencing for November 13.
