Latest news with #BOCSAR
The Age
7 days ago
- The Age
Affinity childcare worker faces multiple counts of sexual abuse
A childcare worker with Affinity Education charged with nine counts of sexual abuse against a child has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing in a regional NSW court. 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. Loading 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
09-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Affinity childcare worker faces multiple counts of sexual abuse
A childcare worker with Affinity Education charged with nine counts of sexual abuse against a child has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing in a regional NSW court. 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. Loading 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.
The Age
09-07-2025
- The Age
Childcare worker denies multiple counts of sexual abuse
A childcare worker charged with nine counts of sexual abuse against a child has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing in a regional NSW court. 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. 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. The crisis in childcare safety dominated headlines last week when a Victorian childcare worker was charged with abusing eight children at different centres in Melbourne, prompting authorities to require 1200 children to be tested for sexually transmitted infections. Loading 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
09-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Childcare worker denies multiple counts of sexual abuse
A childcare worker charged with nine counts of sexual abuse against a child has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing in a regional NSW court. 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. 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. The crisis in childcare safety dominated headlines last week when a Victorian childcare worker was charged with abusing eight children at different centres in Melbourne, prompting authorities to require 1200 children to be tested for sexually transmitted infections. Loading 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Post-and-boast' youth criminals targeted by covert intelligence
NSW Police already have 'real-time capability', but it is extraordinarily resource-intensive. In Queensland, an entire unit was established in mid-2023 to target youth crime. Soteria will be a test bed to see if a similar model should be established in NSW. Soteria has so far investigated 255 break-ins and 197 stolen cars across the state's northern and western regions. Of the 164 people charged, 119 were under the age of 18. More than one-third of the total were on bail for similar offences at the time of their arrest. Pisanos said Soteria's arrests had netted repeat offenders, who had been given bail time and again by the courts, and had become 'ringleaders' or 'influencers' among other vulnerable youngsters. Loading Those criminal influencers were targeted again over the weekend, with 33 people charged in a blitz around Dubbo and Walgett as police went door to door to check up on bailed young people. Among them, police allege, was a 15-year-old boy found with the keys to a stolen SUV in his Walgett home. Police claim he and a second teenager broke into the home of an 89-year-old man, threatened him with a baseball bat, and fled in his car, leading police on a high-speed chase. An hour later police swooped on the co-accused, a 14-year-old boy. 'We will extend a hand in help to those who want it, but extend police tactics and a set of handcuffs to those who don't and continue to commit these violent offences,' Pisanos said. In late March, Premier Chris Minns extended strict laws making it harder for young people accused of repeat car theft and break-ins to be released on bail. Magistrates need to have 'a high degree of confidence', under Section 22C of the Bail Act, that an accused child will not commit a serious offence while on bail. That same month the youth prison population was at 229, 10 per cent higher than one year earlier. 'Unfortunately, the fight for us continues when you realise 36 per cent of those charged in the last three months had already been given bail,' Pisanos said. 'We need the courts to use 22C when dealing with young, violent recidivists.' Crime statistics from the last two decades universally show two main trends; property crime, including theft, break-in and robbery, is dropping while sexual and domestic violence is rising. But a more granular examination of data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals that over the last two years many regions have recorded localised spikes in break-ins, robberies and car thefts. Dubbo, Gunnedah, Inverell, Leeton, Lismore, Moree, Narrandera, Narromine, Newcastle, Parkes, Tamworth, Walgett, Tenterfield, Warrumbungle Shire and Coonamble are areas impacted, according to the latest BOCSAR data. But among the personal tragedies and shocking statistics about youth incarceration, there are shoots of hope. More than 80 young people have been referred to youth action meetings – known as YAMs – under Soteria, which involves police working with government and non-government services to try to turn their lives around. 'I met with a young 13-, 14-year-old boy in Dubbo, he walked himself into the PCYC and wanted to learn boxing,' Pisanos said.
