Complaint lodged about police handling of child abuse allegation at Perth daycare

1 week ago 3

A formal complaint has been lodged with Western Australia’s corruption watchdog over police’s handling of a child sex abuse investigation at a Perth childcare centre.

Blue Gums Childcare Centre, in Perth’s southern suburbs, was at the centre of an investigation by detectives in 2023, after four families made complaints to police about alleged sexual abuse by staff at the centre.

Police investigated the complaint but found there was no evidence of a crime.

The investigation finished in March last year, with a police memorandum stating :“The incident reports relating to the Blue Gum Early Learning and Childcare Centre have been finalised with an outcome of ‘no offence detected’.”

“This outcome reflects that whilst no offence has been identified, this does not mean no offence has occurred. However, the information gathered throughout the investigation would strongly suggest no offence has occurred,” the statement said.

The conclusion of the investigation has now prompted one family to lodge a complaint with the Corruption and Crime Commission regarding the handling of the police investigation.

The complaint, viewed by this masthead, laid out six key issues the family wanted the commission to address.

They included an alleged failure by police to document and communicate physical evidence, the alleged refusal to interview child witnesses, and claims police dismissed the case as “non-criminal from the outset” despite “clear and specific disclosures of abuse, corroborating physical and behavioural evidence”.

A psychologist’s report submitted in the complaint also found the child “continued to make consistent statements pertaining to alleged sexual abuse, [including] identifying an alleged suspect by way of appearance and partial name”.

The report went on to say the child had “shown behavioural and emotional decline and regression over time”, and the claims were “consistent and concerning and unlikely to be fabricated”.

The complaint claimed further disclosures of evidence from the child were not investigated, and critical evidence had been lost in the investigation.

It also alleged police did not consult medical or psychological experts, and claimed detectives disregarded professional opinions that the children’s disclosures and symptoms were not “developmentally typical”.

The complaint alleged police failed to issue search warrants or obtain statements during a reasonable timeframe, and called for the immediate reopening of the investigation, describing it as a “profound failure of process”.

WA Police said it was aware of a complaint made about the investigation, but had determined no further action needed to be taken.

The Corruption and Crime Commission said it could not confirm or deny whether a complaint had been made.

A spokeswoman from Blue Gum Childcare Centre said staff were aware of WA Police’s ultimate finding.

“The safety and wellbeing of children in our care is, and always has been, our highest priority,” she said.

“This has been a very serious and concerning allegation that we’ve been managing for nearly two years.

“Throughout this time, we’ve remained committed to transparency and to supporting all parties involved. The review in March this year confirmed the original findings that no offence was detected and did not identify any further investigative actions.

“We are proud of the strong community we have established at Blue Gum, the dedication of our wonderful staff, and our long-standing support for families in the community.

“Our focus remains on delivering exceptional service while upholding the highest standards of care and safeguarding for children at our centre.”

The centre said it had engaged its own independent investigator following the claims, and they too did not substantiate the allegations.

The news comes after the Forrests’ Mindaroo Foundation commissioned an Insightfully survey of 1500 Australians, finding one in 10 parents removed their children from daycare following allegations of worker sex abuse in Victoria.

Joshua Dale Brown worked in 20 daycare centres in Victoria over the last eight years, and is accused of abusing children aged between five months and two years at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between April 2022 and January 2023. He has not yet been tried on the charges.

A second man was also charged with similar offences following an investigation by police.

The case brought about a reckoning in the nation’s childcare sector, with the Victorian government commissioning a six-week review of child safety in early learning and care centres.

Education Minister Jason Clare announced last month the government would trial CCTV cameras in up to 300 childcare centres in October, including in WA.

The WA government also recently revealed 56 working with children check cards were suspended last financial year due to individuals facing criminal charges.