Australia: Testing for hundreds of children after childcare worker sex abuse
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File photo of the Australian flag by DAPA via Canva.
By Lex Harvey, CNN
(CNN) — Parents of 1,200 children in the Australian state of Victoria are being advised to get them tested for infectious diseases after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 offenses including sexual assault.
Officials issued the call after Victoria Police announced the arrest of Joshua Dale Brown, 26, who is accused of sexually abusing eight children between the ages of 5 months and 2 years at a childcare center in Melbourne in 2022 and 2023.
All of the offenses relate to the eight alleged victims, who attended one center, but police haven’t ruled out other potential victims at 19 other childcare centers he’s known to have worked since 2017.
Victoria Police Acting Commander Janet Stevenson said Brown’s name was being publicized so that parents could check if their child came into contact with him.
“It’s very important to ensure that every parent out there that has a child in childcare knows who he is and where he worked,” Stevenson said in a news conference Tuesday.
Brown is currently in custody and due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15, police said in a news release Tuesday. CNN is working to confirm Brown’s legal representation.
Victoria Police’s Sexual Crime Squad began investigating in May of this year after detectives discovered child abuse material, authorities said. Police then executed a search warrant at Brown’s home, leading to his arrest. Police then worked to identify the alleged victims.
“Last week, we notified eight families that we had charged Brown with sexually offending against their children,” Stevenson said.
“As you could imagine, this was deeply distressing for the families to hear. We worked with our partner agencies to put all supports in place to assist them through this difficult period.”
Brown had a valid “Working with Children Check,” a compulsory screening for people engaging in child-related work in Australia, Stevenson said. Some of the childcare centers Brown worked at for “a very short period of time.”
Health authorities and police have identified and contacted around 2,600 families whose children attended the childcare centers where Brown worked, Chief Health Officer Christian McGrath said during the news conference.
About 1,200 children are being recommended to undergo testing for infectious diseases, McGrath said.
“We are recommending that some children undergo testing for infectious diseases due to potential exposure risk in that period. We do understand that this is another distressing element to the situation, and we’re taking this approach as a precaution,” McGrath said.
He declined to say what diseases the children are being asked to test for but said they can be treated with antibiotics.
Brown is accused of sexually assaulting children as well as producing and transmitting child abuse material, among other charges, according to authorities. The eight alleged victims attended the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, a suburb of Melbourne. Police did not disclose the gender of the victims.
Detectives are also examining evidence of possible offenses at another childcare center in Essendon, northwest Melbourne, “as a priority,” according to the news release.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said she was “sickened” by the allegations.
“They are shocking and distressing, and my heart just breaks for the families who are living every parent’s worst nightmare, and as a parent too, I can only imagine the unbearable grief and pain the affected families are experiencing right now,” Allan said.
CNN’s Hilary Whiteman contributed reporting.
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