Parents of children potentially abused by alleged child sex offender Joshua Dale Brown speak out

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Parents of potential victims of alleged child sex offender Joshua Dale Brown have spoken about the "heartbreaking" and sickening moments they found out their very young children may have been sexually molested while at child care.
On Monday, Mr Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 offences allegedly involving eight children at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne's western suburbs, between April 2022 and January 2023.
Police said the alleged victims were between five months and two years of age.
Some 1,200 children have been recommended to get tested for sexually transmitted infections, namely chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
One mother was arriving at one of the centres Mr Brown had previously worked in as police were leaving, and said her child's educator was in tears, before she then found out about Mr Brown.
"They told me there had been a person who had been charged with sexual abuse and things related to children and that person had worked in the centre at a point in time as well," the woman, who we can not identify and will call Julie, told 7.30.
"I was just shocked and it took me a while to process what was going on … also, what does this mean for me?
"You go straight to 'has my child been involved in this?'"
Julie said the thought of what could have happened made her "feel sick", as did the uncertainty.
She never encountered Joshua Brown but her husband did.
She told 7.30 Mr Brown had supervised her child during lunch breaks.
"My husband has seen him and said he seemed quite friendly [and that] he seemed to be really caring towards the children."
Another mother, who we can not identify and will call Chloe, said her children went to one of the centres Mr Brown worked at last year.
She said when she received the email notifying her of the alleged crimes, her "heart just fell through my stomach".
Although Mr Brown only taught at that centre for one day, she too told 7.30 of the sickening feeling of finding out her children may have been exposed to an alleged sex offender and potential STIs.
"[It's] heartbreaking," Chloe told 7.30.
"It's just these pure little innocent kids.
"My kids were enrolled at one of the daycare centres that was impacted. Thankfully, it was only one day that he was at that centre."
The Victorian government has established a webpage with information for affected families. Information, including details of the government's dedicated hotline, can be found here.
Both mothers told 7.30 they were struggling with their own guilt about potentially exposing their children to an alleged paedophile.
Chloe said she felt guilty that she "trusted" strangers to take care of her kids.
She had said she had tried to educate her children on what inappropriate touching was.
But when she had asked her children if they had ever been inappropriately touched, they said they had not.
Both mothers now also face an agonising wait on their children's STI tests.
Julie's child has been tested but for Chloe, the wait is longer. She cannot get her children in to be tested until Monday.
Despite the call for testing, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Christian McGrath would not reveal on Monday whether Mr Brown had tested positive for any STIs.
"This is a very complex and distressing matter, and our highest priority is the health and wellbeing of the children and families," Dr McGrath said.
"We do believe it is a low risk but we want to offer this to provide assurance to the parents about the health and wellbeing of their children."
Before police investigated, Mr Brown was not known to authorities and had a valid Working with Children Check, which has since been cancelled.
He worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne between January 2017 and May 2025: at some places he worked for a few days, at other places, for months.
But the case has spurred the state government into action on a sector that is already in crisis.
Jacinta Allan's government has now ordered the early childhood regulator to investigate the conduct of the childcare operators for whom Mr Brown worked.
Affinity Education Group operates 250 early education centres and G8 Education runs more than 400 centres across Australia.
Affinity Education Group said it was "deeply distressed by the nature of the charges laid".
G8 Education said the "safety and wellbeing of every child in our care is our highest priority".
Prior ABC investigations have revealed major issues with childcare providers in Australia, particularly at Affinity centres.
Early education and care consultant Lisa Bryant said the statements issued felt like platitudes and said those companies needed to be held to account.
"I can't imagine anything worse than having to test 1,200 babies for STDs that they may have caught in places that are supposed to care for them," she told 7.30.
"That's as bad as it gets.
"Every time one of these companies gets in the media, they put out a statement saying children's safety is our highest priority."
She said that carer-to-child ratios across the system needed to be looked into.
Presently, the ratio for educators to babies is 1-to-4. She said that was unreasonable.
"I've read accounts of educators where they've been with four babies for a day," she said.
"As any mother would know, having one baby can drive you to distraction. Having four, I don't know how anyone could manage that."
Chloe wants more stringent recruitment checks.
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