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Why parents are kept in dark about alleged abusers at childcare providers

Why parents are kept in dark about alleged abusers at childcare providers

The Age20-07-2025
When Alex White learned a man who worked for the same childcare company where he sent his son had been charged with child sexual abuse, he demanded answers.
However, finding out the specific centres and dates he worked, and whether his child had crossed paths with the abuser, was an uphill battle.
In Victoria, thousands of parents were told their children may have been exposed to sexually transmitted diseases while attending daycare centres where Victorian childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown worked.
Meanwhile, parents who sent their children to an early childcare centre in Sydney where a worker was last week charged with seven counts of using a child to make abusive material remain in the dark.
The childcare centre cannot be identified because a court order was put in place to prevent 'psychological harm' to his alleged victims, including those yet to be identified by detectives.
Parents are demanding more transparency over allegations and investigations into childcare workers, arguing restrictions may be protecting abusers and hindering more victims from being identified.
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White and his wife discovered Only About Children childcare worker Quoc Phu Tong had been charged with abusing a child through the media.
Tong, who worked at multiple Only About Children centres, pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10 years old and one count of common assault this year.
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