Affinity childcare worker faces multiple counts of sexual abuse
The man is charged with nine counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10 years of age, and one count of rape. It is not known if the child abuse offences relate to the same victim.
The man has been granted bail, with a hearing date to be set on July 23. Further details cannot be published for legal reasons.
Victorian childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, who last week was charged with 70 sex offences against eight children in his care, including child rape, also worked at multiple childcare centres owned by Affinity Education.
New data has revealed more than 170 NSW children aged five or under are alleged to have been victims of sexual assault or touching in their pre-school education centres over the past five years, amid rising concern about the safety of young children in care.
There were 18 adults charged with committing sexual offences in early education settings over the same period, including 17 men and one woman, the figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) found.
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The BOCSAR data said there were 54 alleged victims in the 12 months to March 2025, the highest in that five-year period, and 37 in the previous 12 months, the second-highest rate. The figures are based on direct reports to police and those passed on from child protection.
Some of those victims related to a series of arrests in October last year, three NSW childcare workers at separate centres were charged with sexual touching of children or, in one of the cases, child abuse.
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The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Woman killed as out-of-control car ploughs into family
A woman is dead after an elderly driver lost control of her car, hitting three pedestrians before ploughing through a fence near a playground. The Toyota Yaris, driven by a 91-year-old woman, mounted the footpath on Coleman Road at Wantirna South, in Melbourne's east, about 12.20pm on Thursday. Three people, a man and woman in their 30s or 40s with a young boy, were hit by the car after the driver lost control. The woman died at the scene. Both the boy - believed to be aged three or four - and the man were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said police were investigating the relationship between victims but it was likely they were a young family. The trio was walking in the same direction as the car was travelling when it struck them. "It came from behind," Supt Goldsmith told reporters. "It looks like it's (lost control) about 40m or 50m before the collision with the people who were walking on the other side of that road." The out-of-control car continued down the road for another 200m, hitting a street sign and smashing through a fence before coming to a stop near a playground. "No one was hit at the park thankfully," Supt Goldsmith said. The driver, who was "terribly shaken" and had minor scratches, was taken to hospital for assessment and blood testing. Police would look at whether speed was a contributing factor. "That will be subject to the investigation, but it is downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree there is possibility the car would have picked up speed as it's driven further down Coleman Road," Supt Goldsmith said. Detectives were speaking with witnesses and hoped to interview the driver. The crash happened during the first week of Victorian school holidays and took the state's road toll to 14 in the last seven days. "We're facing a horrific month for road trauma," Supt Goldsmith said. The state has recorded a number of deadly crashes involving out-of-control vehicles in recent years. In November, a kindergarten worker and a three-year-old boy was injured when a runaway truck smashed through the gate of Macedon Ranges Montessori Preschool's playground. Two weeks earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students injured when an SUV crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's east. Five people were killed and six injured in November 2023 when a diabetic driver passed out behind the wheel and crashed into patrons seated outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. The driver was charged but the allegations were ultimately struck out after a magistrate found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction. A woman is dead after an elderly driver lost control of her car, hitting three pedestrians before ploughing through a fence near a playground. The Toyota Yaris, driven by a 91-year-old woman, mounted the footpath on Coleman Road at Wantirna South, in Melbourne's east, about 12.20pm on Thursday. Three people, a man and woman in their 30s or 40s with a young boy, were hit by the car after the driver lost control. The woman died at the scene. Both the boy - believed to be aged three or four - and the man were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said police were investigating the relationship between victims but it was likely they were a young family. The trio was walking in the same direction as the car was travelling when it struck them. "It came from behind," Supt Goldsmith told reporters. "It looks like it's (lost control) about 40m or 50m before the collision with the people who were walking on the other side of that road." The out-of-control car continued down the road for another 200m, hitting a street sign and smashing through a fence before coming to a stop near a playground. "No one was hit at the park thankfully," Supt Goldsmith said. The driver, who was "terribly shaken" and had minor scratches, was taken to hospital for assessment and blood testing. Police would look at whether speed was a contributing factor. "That will be subject to the investigation, but it is downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree there is possibility the car would have picked up speed as it's driven further down Coleman Road," Supt Goldsmith said. Detectives were speaking with witnesses and hoped to interview the driver. The crash happened during the first week of Victorian school holidays and took the state's road toll to 14 in the last seven days. "We're facing a horrific month for road trauma," Supt Goldsmith said. The state has recorded a number of deadly crashes involving out-of-control vehicles in recent years. In November, a kindergarten worker and a three-year-old boy was injured when a runaway truck smashed through the gate of Macedon Ranges Montessori Preschool's playground. Two weeks earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students injured when an SUV crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's east. Five people were killed and six injured in November 2023 when a diabetic driver passed out behind the wheel and crashed into patrons seated outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. The driver was charged but the allegations were ultimately struck out after a magistrate found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction. A woman is dead after an elderly driver lost control of her car, hitting three pedestrians before ploughing through a fence near a playground. The Toyota Yaris, driven by a 91-year-old woman, mounted the footpath on Coleman Road at Wantirna South, in Melbourne's east, about 12.20pm on Thursday. Three people, a man and woman in their 30s or 40s with a young boy, were hit by the car after the driver lost control. The woman died at the scene. Both the boy - believed to be aged three or four - and the man were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said police were investigating the relationship between victims but it was likely they were a young family. The trio was walking in the same direction as the car was travelling when it struck them. "It came from behind," Supt Goldsmith told reporters. "It looks like it's (lost control) about 40m or 50m before the collision with the people who were walking on the other side of that road." The out-of-control car continued down the road for another 200m, hitting a street sign and smashing through a fence before coming to a stop near a playground. "No one was hit at the park thankfully," Supt Goldsmith said. The driver, who was "terribly shaken" and had minor scratches, was taken to hospital for assessment and blood testing. Police would look at whether speed was a contributing factor. "That will be subject to the investigation, but it is downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree there is possibility the car would have picked up speed as it's driven further down Coleman Road," Supt Goldsmith said. Detectives were speaking with witnesses and hoped to interview the driver. The crash happened during the first week of Victorian school holidays and took the state's road toll to 14 in the last seven days. "We're facing a horrific month for road trauma," Supt Goldsmith said. The state has recorded a number of deadly crashes involving out-of-control vehicles in recent years. In November, a kindergarten worker and a three-year-old boy was injured when a runaway truck smashed through the gate of Macedon Ranges Montessori Preschool's playground. Two weeks earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students injured when an SUV crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's east. Five people were killed and six injured in November 2023 when a diabetic driver passed out behind the wheel and crashed into patrons seated outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. The driver was charged but the allegations were ultimately struck out after a magistrate found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction. A woman is dead after an elderly driver lost control of her car, hitting three pedestrians before ploughing through a fence near a playground. The Toyota Yaris, driven by a 91-year-old woman, mounted the footpath on Coleman Road at Wantirna South, in Melbourne's east, about 12.20pm on Thursday. Three people, a man and woman in their 30s or 40s with a young boy, were hit by the car after the driver lost control. The woman died at the scene. Both the boy - believed to be aged three or four - and the man were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said police were investigating the relationship between victims but it was likely they were a young family. The trio was walking in the same direction as the car was travelling when it struck them. "It came from behind," Supt Goldsmith told reporters. "It looks like it's (lost control) about 40m or 50m before the collision with the people who were walking on the other side of that road." The out-of-control car continued down the road for another 200m, hitting a street sign and smashing through a fence before coming to a stop near a playground. "No one was hit at the park thankfully," Supt Goldsmith said. The driver, who was "terribly shaken" and had minor scratches, was taken to hospital for assessment and blood testing. Police would look at whether speed was a contributing factor. "That will be subject to the investigation, but it is downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree there is possibility the car would have picked up speed as it's driven further down Coleman Road," Supt Goldsmith said. Detectives were speaking with witnesses and hoped to interview the driver. The crash happened during the first week of Victorian school holidays and took the state's road toll to 14 in the last seven days. "We're facing a horrific month for road trauma," Supt Goldsmith said. The state has recorded a number of deadly crashes involving out-of-control vehicles in recent years. In November, a kindergarten worker and a three-year-old boy was injured when a runaway truck smashed through the gate of Macedon Ranges Montessori Preschool's playground. Two weeks earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students injured when an SUV crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's east. Five people were killed and six injured in November 2023 when a diabetic driver passed out behind the wheel and crashed into patrons seated outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. The driver was charged but the allegations were ultimately struck out after a magistrate found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The remarkably unremarkable life of Erin Patterson
Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three people and trying to kill a fourth by poisoning them with death cap mushrooms. See all 27 stories. The world was introduced to Erin Patterson in front of her cherry-red SUV, parked in the driveway off a quiet cul-de-sac in the little Victorian town of Leongatha. Sporting a light grey jumper, loose white pants and her signature sandals, the then 48-year-old pleaded her innocence to the journalists firing questions about a fatal lunch she had hosted a week earlier. That meal killed Patterson's in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and critically injured Heather's husband, Ian. Those first images, taken on a dreary Monday in August 2023, were the first insight into a life that has since been dissected by investigators, lawyers, the media and the public for nearly two years. The life of a woman who, until then, lived an unremarkable life. A woman who hates hospitals, adores her children and loves animals. A woman who is both introverted and highly intelligent. And a woman who was found guilty by a jury of meticulously planning the murder of family members she purported to love. The ensuing investigation would expose Patterson, first and foremost, as a self-confessed liar, capable of committing and concocting an elaborate story to cover up her crime. Patterson herself acknowledged, during her eight days in the witness box, to destroying evidence and lying to detectives, friends and family. She faked a cancer diagnosis to entice her guests to the fateful lunch, a jury found, and fabricated stories such as buying mushrooms from an Asian grocer and a plan to undergo gastric bypass surgery. Erin Trudi Scutter was born on September 30, 1974, the youngest daughter of Heather and Eitan Scutter. She grew up in the middle-class Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley in a family of high achievers. The matriarch of the family lectured at the nearby Monash University, teaching children's literature. Patterson and her sister, Ceinwen, attended the same university. Patterson obtained a degree in business accounting. Loading Like her mother, she enjoyed studying and is frequently described by those who know her as a sharp thinker. 'Erin is very intelligent,' Simon, her estranged husband, told a jury. 'I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence. She is quite witty and can be quite funny.' One of her fellow true crime aficionados described her as a 'super-sleuth', earning a reputation as one of the best and fastest at researching in their online community. Before she met Simon, Patterson trained and worked as an air traffic controller, a challenging occupation that demands quick thinking and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
West Australian
7 hours ago
- West Australian
Warnings over push to curb some protests after attacks
Curbing protests following a spate of attacks on Jewish institutions will have a "chilling" impact on free expression, human rights' lawyers say, as a landmark plan to address anti-Semitism is revealed. The Victorian government is drafting laws to ban protests outside places of worship and demonstrators wearing face coverings following high-profile incidents involving masked neo-Nazis and the firebombing of a synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne. Another arson attack on an East Melbourne synagogue, one of four anti-Semitic incidents over the weekend, has prompted the premier to set up a task force and promise further action if required. Human Rights Law Centre legal director Sarah Schwartz accused Premier Jacinta Allan of conflating acts of violence with peaceful protest, noting the laws would have prevented the synagogue attacks because they were not protests. A 34-year-old man from Sydney has been charged over the East Melbourne synagogue arson, while counter-terrorism police continue to investigate the Ripponlea firebombing. Ms Schwartz cited sexual abuse survivors outside churches as a legitimate form of protest that may be impinged under the plan, and mask-ban exemptions for health, disability, and religious reasons would be "impossible" to enforce without discriminatory policing. "These new laws taken altogether will have a chilling effect on peaceful protest," she told AAP. Victoria's "knee-jerk measures" risked taking the state down the same path as the NSW government, which rushed "regressive" protest and speech laws through parliament after an explosives-laden caravan was found with anti-Semitic messaging in Sydney in February, Ms Schwartz said. Investigators later revealed the discovery was part of a "criminal con job". More than 900 people have signed a Jewish Council of Australia petition calling on Ms Allan to drop the anti-protest laws. "These laws are not about our safety - they are about stopping dissent," it said. "Doing this in our names fuels the flames of anti-Semitism against us." Other Jewish groups suggest Victoria adopt a NSW-style protest permit system, following a pro-Palestine protest outside Israeli restaurant Miznon in the CBD on Friday, which left a glass door smashed and tables and chairs up-ended. Ms Allan has dismissed the measure. The Victorian opposition announced on Thursday it would introduce a protest registration system if elected at the November 2026 election. Police would be given stronger powers to crackdown on unregistered and disruptive protests with on-the-spot move-on orders, and repeat offenders who defied court-issued exclusion orders would face up to two years in jail as well as significant fines. It comes as Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, delivered her action plan, which recommended a review of laws around anti-Semitic and hateful conduct, including violent or intimidating protests. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese maintained people had a right to express their views but called for protests to be done "respectfully, peacefully, orderly". Ms Segal said the anti-Semitic events in Melbourne were not isolated and formed part of a broader pattern of intimidation and violence against Jewish Australians. Victoria beefed up its anti-vilification laws in March, and the criminal reforms will take effect on September 20.
