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A Sydney mother-of-two whose young children came into contact with an alleged paedophile childcare worker has lashed out at the lack of information provided by police, saying she and other parents were “blindsided” when she learnt of the man’s arrest.
The man, who has worked with pre-school aged children in multiple settings over a period of more than a decade is accused of filming the horrific abuse of children in his care.
A court order prevents the Herald from identifying the man or any of the childcare centres at which he worked.
“There’s lots and lots of people who were blindsided,” said the mother, who also can’t be named for legal reasons.
“As far as I can see, he was beloved by many.”
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Both her children came into contact with the man, as did her nieces and nephews.
“I feel disgust, anger, grief, everything,” the mother said.
She complained the stressful situation had been compounded by a lack of information from police. The woman uncovered the man’s court listing for Friday and came to Parramatta Local Court hoping to discover more information.
“We haven’t been able to get information out of anybody. We just want to know if our children were affected.”
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Specialist AFP investigators are combing through more than half a million files seized in a raid at the man’s home, with many alleged victims not yet identified.
Some centres where the man worked have been advised of his arrest, but police are still working to identify potential victims and have yet to contact families directly.
Multiple government agencies, including NSW Health, police and community teams have been briefed to support affected families once they are identified by investigators.
The allegations come after Victorian childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was accused of abusing eight children in his care at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook.
Brown had worked across 20 Melbourne childcare centres since 2017, and Victoria’s Health Department recommended sexual disease tests for 1200 children as part of the investigation.
The matter will return to court in November and the man, who was arrested in July, remains bail refused.
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