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Childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown was working in the kitchen at a Melbourne childcare centre days before he was charged with more than 70 offences including allegedly using bodily fluids to tamper with food.
In a statement to this masthead on Friday afternoon, a spokesman for childcare centre operator Affinity confirmed the alleged child sex offender had “assisted in the kitchen” at its Papilio Early Learning Centre in Essendon during a brief period earlier this year, supporting meal preparations while centre chefs were absent.
Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.
Brown had led children in a “food-based” learning activity, which included guiding children in an educational activity where they had prepared rocky road, the statement said.
Brown, 26, is due to appear in court in September facing more than 70 charges, including sexually penetrating a child under 12, attempting to sexually penetrate a child under 12, sexually assaulting a child under 16, and producing child abuse material.
Affinity said in the statement that the involvement of educators in food-based activities was “consistent” with their “play-based learning principles”, and that centre managers with the “relevant food safety certifications” were responsible for supervising educators in the kitchen.
The company was not aware of any further instances where Brown had provided kitchen assistance in other Affinity centres, the spokesperson said.
Papilio Early Learning Centre in Essendon.Credit: Justin McManus
Meanwhile, ways to fast-track the introduction of CCTV monitoring in childcare centres will be examined under an urgent review of the sector.
Details of the Victorian government’s rapid child safety review – which was called in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse by Brown – were revealed by Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn on Friday.
While a longer-term national review into policy settings continues, Blandthorn said the Victorian review would examine immediate actions to keep children safe.
“That review will principally look at … whether there are things that here in Victoria we can expedite to ensure that there are no gaps that we can identify that will help keep children safe, be it training or other things,” Blandthorn said.
“Certainly, I think there are gaps within the Working with Children Check system, and I think we need to look at those to make sure that those people who are working with children are safe and qualified people.”
The Victorian review will be led by former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior bureaucrat Pam White.
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Blandthorn said that although it was important to have a nationally consistent approach to childcare regulation settings including the introduction of CCTV, she was pushing for it to be considered as part of the rapid Victorian review rather than waiting for the longer-term national reform work.
“Personally, I think that CCTV would act as a deterrent, and certainly police have told me it will act as a deterrent,” she said.
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