Listen: How the alleged childcare abuse case unfolded
Written like this, these alleged facts, if proven, make for sickening reading.
But there are still many questions, such as whether anyone had previously noticed anything about the man – Joshua Dale Brown – now charged, what led police to raid the 26-year-old's home in Point Cook, and what needs to happen to better protect children.
Chris Vedelago, senior reporter for The Age, is among the reporting team piecing together the case for this masthead. Vedelago explains how the case unfolded in the latest episode of The Morning Edition podcast with host Samantha Selinger-Morris.
Click the player below to listen, or read on for an edited extract.
Selinger-Morris: So, Chris, first off, this has got to be every parent's worst nightmare. Can you just talk us through how this case has come to light?
Vedelago: What happened is police believe they had detected this man, Joshua Brown, allegedly in possession of child abuse material. They raided his house, and they arrested him, and they charged him, and then from there, they had to work out who the alleged victims were and where the offending had taken place. We're not clear yet exactly how the police found this particular man. All we know is that they detected something that was of concern and they immediately raided him.
Selinger-Morris: And to be clear, we are talking about babies here. I believe we're talking about alleged victims who are between the ages of five months and two years. Is that right?
Vedelago: That's right. The oldest is two years and the youngest is five months. That in itself presented serious obstacles for the detectives who were investigating this. They had to basically reverse-engineer the process to figure out who the alleged victims were. And they didn't want to go public until they knew the identity of the eight alleged victims so they could notify the parents.
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