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News.com.au
13-07-2025
- News.com.au
Alleged childcare abuser Joshua Dale Brown reported for non-sexual incidents: ABC
Alleged childcare pedophile Joshua Dale Brown was reported for his conduct two years before his arrest, a bombshell ABC investigation has revealed. The report could have triggered a review of his clearances. Two reports were made to Victoria's Reportable Conduct Scheme before his arrest about his interaction with children at the Point Cook Creative Gardens childcare centre - the same centre where his alleged sexual offences occurred. The two newly revealed reports did not relate to sexual offending, but included Mr Brown behaving 'aggressively' with a child two years before his arrest. Mr Brown was charged on May 12 with more than 70 offences against eight alleged victims between five months and two years old. A statewide call was put out by Victorian health authorities for 1200 children to get tests for sexually transmitted diseases, sparking outrage among parents. G8 Education who run the Creative Garden childcare centre in Point Cook sent details of the offending to families in a statement uploaded to its website. 'We are reaching out to you today as we understand there may be further media stories about Joshua Dale Brown relating to incidents where he was the subject of suspension of employment, investigation and disciplinary action by G8 Education, in matters which are unrelated to the charges he is now facing,' the statement read. In the first reported incident, which was investigated in April 2023, Mr Brown 'aggressively picked up and put down and did not uphold the dignity and rights of a child in his care by not supporting that child while they were upset'. The incident was raised by three staff members and reported to Victoria Police, The Commission for Children and Young People and the Department of Education — it was then referred back to G8 to deal with internally. In its statement G8 said the incident was 'thoroughly investigated' and the allegations were substantiated. Mr Brown was placed on three months' leave, received a warning and was given an improvement plan. The second incident was investigated in January 2024 and involved Mr Brown raising his voice with three children and 'forcibly' grabbing the arm of one child, the leg of another and pulling off one of the children's shoes. Again, the incident was reported to Victoria Police, CCYP and the Department, which again referred it back to G8 to deal with. G8 substantiated those allegations as well. Mr Brown was suspended by G8, and he subsequently resigned. He went on to work at 10 more childcare centres, not operated by G8. A substantiated finding would typically trigger a person's Working With Children Check to be reviewed, but the ABC reported that the CCYP used discretionary powers not to escalate Mr Brown's offending as it was viewed as a lower-level incident. If it had been escalated it would have give authorities an opportunity to review his Working With Children Check. Last Tuesday, G8 Education issued a market update to the Australian Stock Exchange which detailed its response to the allegations. Chief executive Pejman Okhovat said: 'These allegations are deeply disturbing, and our hearts go out to the children and families involved. 'I am deeply sorry for the unimaginable pain caused to our families and what they are going through. 'Our primary focus right now is on supporting all families who are impacted, as well as our team members in Victoria. He continued on to say that the chain is working with Victoria Police and the government in their investigation and 'doing everything we can' to help the families and children find justice.
ABC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
What parents need to know about alleged sexual offences at a Melbourne childcare centre
A health response has been initiated in Victoria after a childcare worker was charged with sexual assault offences against eight children at a facility in Melbourne's south west. Joshua Dale Brown, 26, is facing more than 70 charges, including child rape, possession of child abuse material, and reckless contamination of goods to cause alarm or anxiety, police said on Tuesday. Warning: This story contains details of alleged child sex abuse that may distress some audience members. The charges relate to eight children enrolled at the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between April 2022 and January 2023, but Mr Brown had also been employed with at least 20 other childcare centres across Melbourne between 2017 and 2025. As part of a multi-agency response, 2,600 families whose children attended the relevant childcare centres over the period the alleged offender worked there have been contacted. Authorities have also recommended 1,200 children undergo screening for certain infectious diseases due to what they say is the "manner of the alleged offending". If you believe you may have been impacted and need advice on where to go from here, including whether you need to get your children tested, here's what you need to know. Eight families whose children Mr Brown was charged with sexually offending against at the Point Cook centre were notified last week. "As you can imagine, this was deeply distressing for the families to hear. We work with our partner agencies to put all support in place to assist them through this difficult period," Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam said. On Tuesday, all families whose children were enrolled at the 20 childcare centres listed during Mr Brown's employment there were sent letters containing advice on behalf of the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police. In other cases, contact has been made via email or text message. Mr Brown's period of employment at each childcare centre varies from a single day to more than a year. If you haven't been contacted but hold concerns about your child being at a centre at a certain time, you can check the full list of impacted centres below. Victoria's Chief Health Officer Christian McGrath said on Tuesday that the parents, guardians and carers of 1,200 children had been contacted for precautionary infectious disease screening. "Health advice has been stood up to ensure families are able to easily access health advice and the special services we think they need," he said. "As a precaution, we are recommending that some children undergo testing for infectious diseases due to a potential exposure risk in that period … we do believe it's a low risk, but we want to offer this to provide assurance to the parents about the health and wellbeing of their children." Dr McGrath did not elaborate on what specific types of infection the testing was for, citing families' privacy. He stressed the recommendations were made out of an "abundance of caution". The wider community has also been reassured the infections can be treated with antibiotics and that there was no broader public health risk to the community. Dr McGrath said a dedicated advice and support hotline had been set up to provide families and health with screening information, as well as linking them to specialist support, including mental health and wellbeing services. "When parents, guardians or carers call this number, they'll be provided with health advice, including whether testing is recommended for their children," he said. "We'll also support them to book in that testing and it'll be provided free of charge." You can call the dedicated advice line on 1800 791 241 if you hold concerns for your child, or need clarification about your infectious disease screenings. The line is open 7 days a week — 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Affected families can also find further information on the state government website here. Parents are also urged to speak with their own GPs to discuss any specific health concerns relating to their children. For advice on how to discuss the incident with your kids with care and to minimise trauma, you can refer to advice available on Victoria's Better Health Channel here. Families who may have been affected and require testing for infectious diseases are being contacted directly by health department and police officials. Dr McGrath said not every child who attended the 20 listed childcare centres will be recommended for testing as they wouldn't have been identified as having a potential exposure risk. To facilitate screening for the 1,200 listed children, health officials are also organising direct referrals to medical centres around Melbourne, as well as coordinating with the laboratories to ensure a timely turnaround of the results. Police said the investigation against Joshua Brown began in May after detectives came in possession of alleged child abuse material implicating him. Police have not specified how they were led to that material. They said they had not received any formal complaints in relation to his alleged sexual offending. The 26-year-old was not known to police prior to May and was employed as a childcare worker at the time of his arrest. Mr Brown had a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC), a mandatory certification for most people looking to work or volunteer in child-related industries in Victoria. The WWCC is obtained through Service Victoria and involves assessment of an individual's criminal record across Australian states and territories, their professional conduct, compliance with historical and current health practitioner legislation, and current or historical reporting obligations or orders under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 or the Serious Offenders Act 2018. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the screening process for the checks would be reviewed in an investigation by state police and early childhood regulator. Police said Mr Brown's WWCC had been cancelled as soon as his alleged offending came to light. Victoria's Deputy Police Commissioner said lifting a suppression on his identity on Tuesday was an "unusual decision", but one taken in the interest of the community. The investigation remains ongoing. Mr Brown is due to appear in court in September.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- BBC News
Australia: Hundreds of kids to be tested for disease after childcare rape charge
About 1,200 children are being urged to undergo testing for infectious diseases after a Melbourne childcare worker was charged with a string of offences including child Dale Brown was arrested in May and faces 70 charges, with police alleging he abused eight children - including a five-month-old - between April 2022 and January 26-year-old has worked at 20 childcare centres since 2017, prompting local health authorities to notify parents of any children who may have been in his care, recommending many be tested as a "precaution".Brown, who is yet to enter a plea to the charges, has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court in September. The eight children - all under the age of five - who police allege were harmed attended the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne's is accused of child rape and sexual assault offenses, as well as producing and transmitting child abuse are also investigating alleged offences by Brown at a childcare centre in Essendon "as a priority". At a press conference, authorities said he had a valid working with children check and was employed as a fill-in childcare worker when he was was not known to them before the investigation, they said, adding that they believed he acted alone and had only worked at centres in Victoria. Revealing Mr Brown's identity was an "unusual decision", Victoria Police's Janet Stevenson said, but this is a "unique" case."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," she Health Officer Christian McGrath would not reveal whether Mr Brown had tested positive to sexually transmitted infections, but said the manner of the alleged offending meant some children may be recommended for screening for infectious 2,600 families had been contacted, with 1,200 children recommended for testing, she said, adding that the infections that the children may have been exposed to can be treated with Premier Jacinta Allan said she was "sickened" by the allegations."My heart breaks for the families who are living every parent's worst nightmare," she across Victoria will be "angry and frightened" by the case, Allan said, adding that a dedicated website has been set up for those impacted.
News.com.au
30-06-2025
- News.com.au
Joshua Brown, 26, charged over string of sexual assaults at Melbourne childcare centre
Police are running a top-level investigation into alleged sexual assaults at Melbourne childcare centres. Police on Tuesday morning revealed they had arrested and charged 26-year-old Joshua Brown with over 70 offences at a Point Cook childcare centre, and are looking into evidence at a second childcare centre as part of a wider investigation. The alleged offences Mr Brown has been charged with relate to Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre, Point Cook, where he worked between October 2021 and Feburary 2024. These include: sexual penetration of a child under 12; attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12; sexual assault of a child under 16; sexual activity in presence of a child under 16; produce child abuse material for use through a carriage service; use carriage service to transmit child abuse material; possess child abuse material for use through a carriage service; recklessly contaminate goods to cause alarm or anxiety; use carriage service to offend; use carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self. Police said the charges relate to eight victims, who were in the care of the Point Cook childcare centre between April 2022 and January 2023. 'The families of the eight victims have been notified and have been provided with all available support services,' police said in a statement. Authorities said some children could be recommended for screening for infectious diseases due to the manner of the alleged offending. The full list of the 20 childcare centres Mr Brown worked out between January 2018 and May 2025 has been released 'out of an abundance of caution' and so that 'families and carers can cross check for themselves'. Nino Early Learning Adventures, Point Cook 15 Jan 2017 – 9 Jun 2019 Explorers Early Learning, Point Cook: 18 Aug 2019 – 27 Oct 2019 Casual work: 10 Nov 2019 & 22 Dec 2019 Adventurers Education, Wyndham Vale: 25 Nov 2019 – 24 Jul 2020 Only About Children, Williamstown: 28 Oct 2020 – 30 Mar 2021 Wallaby Childcare Centre, Sanctuary Lakes: 13 Apr 2021 – 25 May 2021 Nido Early Learning School, Werribee: 21 Jun 2021 – 16 Jul 2021 Creative Gardens, Point Cook: 28 Oct 2021 – 2 Feb 2024 Leopold World of Learning, Leopold: 9 Feb 2023 – 13 Feb 2023 Greenwood, Point Cook: 14 Feb 2023 – 10 Mar 2023 Little Blossoms Child Care Centre, Werribee: 14 Aug 2023 – 17 Aug 2023 D.O.T.S Occupational Therapy for Children, Footscray: 1 Mar 2024 – 30 Apr 2024 Aussie Kindies Early Learning, Sunbury: 13 Aug 2024 – 21 Aug 2024 Milestones Early Learning, Werribee: 14 Aug 2024 – 16 Aug 2024 Milestones Early Learning, Hoppers Crossing: 19 Aug 2024 – 19 Aug 2024 Papilio Early Learning, Hoppers Crossing: 22 Aug 2024 – 12 Mar 2025 Kids Academy, Melton: 12 Sep 2024 – 12 Sep 2024 Kids Academy, Kensington: 7 Oct 2024 – 9 Oct 2024 Aussie Kindies Early Learning, Keilor: 11 Feb 2025 – 11 Feb 2025 Papilio Early Learning, Essendon: 17 Feb 2025 – 9 May 2025 Milestones Early Learning, Bundoora: 8 May 2025 – 8 May 2025 Police said families who had children at the impacted centres during the time of Mr Brown's employment were in the process of being contacted. 'As part of this ongoing investigation, detectives are also examining evidence of an allegation of offending at a second childcare centre which is based in Essendon. This matter is being investigated as a priority,' police said. Mr Brown was remanded and remains in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on September 15. 'This is an incredibly distressing and confronting investigation for all involved and I know many members of the community will hear this news and feel enormously concerned,' Acting Commander Janet Stevenson said. 'The most important thing for our investigators was that we needed to identify the victims involved. These are some of the most vulnerable members of our community and the conversations police have had to have with their families were no doubt life changing in the worst possible way. 'Detectives have been working alongside a range of agencies during this investigation to ensure as much information has been provided to impacted parties as soon as possible. 'There will be people in the community who hear this news and feel very concerned about their own children. Parents who had a child at a centre at the time of the man's employment are being notified today and a website has been set up by the Victorian Government with further information for impacted families.' A major press conference will be held over this issue at 9.30am. The Herald Sun will live stream the press conference to this page. It will be attended by Premier Jacinta Allan, police minister Anthony Carbines and health officials. Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam will address the media along with chief heath officer Dr Christian McGrath and Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn.
