A new wave of Victorian parents wonder whether their children have been exposed to an alleged sex abuser
Childcare providers confirmed they were working with police, handing over rosters and other employment details to help investigators track the movements of accused sexual abuser Joshua Brown.
Police sources described the active investigation as a 'moving beast' as they examined the records, including photos of Brown at work on particular days and helped navigate the dissemination of information to parents across Melbourne.
Parents from Milestones Early Learning Centre in Greensborough told news.com.au they had been notified their children were at the centre when Joshua Brown was on staff in January this year.
The centre is not listed on the Victorian Health site of 20 centres where the 26-year-old worked.
'Our centre advised us that the accused worked at the centre in January,' one parent said.
'Our son attended the centre in January on at least one day he was there.'
Another parent said they were notified of a particular day in January, their child was at the centre and that Brown had been there all day, and been in 'all rooms'.
The Greensborough Centre and the Victorian Department of Health have been contacted for comment.
Victoria Police told news.com.au that Tuesday's list of potentially impacted centres was compiled based on 'what was known at that point in time', reaffirming the investigation is 'ongoing'.
Detectives raided the home of Brown in May, allegedly uncovering a cache of child abuse material.
The disturbing discovery set off an intensive effort to identify eight children, some as young as five months old, whom Brown is accused of abusing and filming.
The allegations centre on Brown's time at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between 2022 and 2023.
However, Brown worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne since 2017, which are now listed on the government website.
News.com.au revealed Brown is accused of contaminating food with body fluid, sparking an urgent health warning to 1200 families who are now having their small children tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
He is facing 70 charges in total, including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material, and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. No pleas have been entered.
A spokeswoman for Affinity Education Group Limited, which has centres across Melbourne – including Milestones Early Learning Centres – said that 'Given the serious nature of the matter, we are currently reviewing our records in detail to ensure completeness'.
'Affinity Education continues to cooperate fully with authorities and remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of the children and families in our care,' the spokeswoman said.
Affinity said it welcomes any review of regulations that strengthen safeguards, enhance accountability, and ensure the highest standards of safety and care for every child.
'Our people share the deep concern over failings when they occur in the early childhood education and care sector,' the spokeswoman said.
'The safety, wellbeing, and development of every child must always come first.
'We are deeply distressed by the nature of the charges laid against a former employee named in media reports today. We understand the serious concern this news has caused for families and the broader community. At this time, we have not been advised of any charges relating to incidents at Affinity centres.
'Our immediate focus is on supporting our people and the families in our centres.'
Childcare provider Only About Children has sent an email to parents at its Williamstown centre, where Brown worked from October 28, 2020, to March 30, 2021.
'This is an incredibly distressing situation, and like so many of you, we are shocked and angry and deeply saddened,' the centre said, adding it was working hard to respond to every inquiry from families.
The provider stated that it was committed to supporting its families and being as open and transparent as possible throughout this process.
It assured families that its recruitment and screening process of staff included specific interview questions to ensure 'all new educators understand their child safe reporting requirements and expectations'.
Recently it has strengthened processes even further by a range of measures, including greater oversight of casual employees and by appointing a dedicated Child Protection and Safeguarding expert.
CCTV had been installed in a small number of its campuses and the provider 'was actively exploring the use more broadly, however it was continuing to weigh up the risk to safety of children with the benefits'.
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