How police caught alleged childcare predator Joshua Brown - as terrified parents reveal warning signs
Joshua Dale Brown, 26, from Point Cook in Melbourne 's southwest, is facing more than 70 charges including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety.
The latter charge refers to allegations that he added bodily fluids to children's food.
The alleged offending occurred during his time at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook, where he worked between October 2021 and February 2024.
It has now been revealed that police made a breakthrough in their case against him after they investigated the alleged sexual crimes of Michael Simon Wilson.
Detectives investigating a rape allegation against Wilson 'uncovered evidence' of alleged acts committed by Brown, the Herald Sun reported.
Wilson was charged with 45 child sex offences on Wednesday, including bestiality, rape and possession of child abuse material, according to court documents.
It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson's charges are not related to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims.
Wilson is due to appear in court in September on the same day as Brown.
An investigation into Brown was launched after the execution of a search warrant at his home, which allegedly uncovered a cache of child abuse material.
Up to 100 officers, some of whom were parents, were part of the probe following Brown's arrest in May, The Herald reports.
'It has been an emotion bomb,' one police source said, describing the task of contacting the 'next-level devastated' parents and guardians of suspected victims.
'We pulled out all stops. It hasn't stopped since then,' they said.
Although Brown was arrested on May 12, his identity and alleged crimes could not be published until police sought to have a court suppression order lifted on Tuesday.
Within a few hours, an alarming warning was issued by the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police, urging the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases.
The transmission of STIs via food is low but is increased if a person has cuts or sores.
Chief Health Officer Dr Christian McGrath said on Wednesday the testing was out of an 'an abundance of caution... (but) there's not no risk, which is why we are making this recommendation'.
Brown worked at 20 childcare centres over an eight-year period between January 2017 and May 2025.
Police and health authorities have contacted 2,600 families of children who attended the centres in a bid to have them tested for unnamed diseases.
Alarmed parents have spoken to the Herald Sun, with a father slamming the Point Cook daycare centre for 'brushing off' concerns he raised over his son, who has autism, and will need to be tested.
His son allegedly came home from the centre with bruising from an unknown source in 2023. There is no suggestion Brown had anything to do with the alleged incident.
'The [centre] said there were no concerns ever raised with them in the past,' he said.
'That's bulls*** because I didn't raise the sexual assault thing but I raised with them the marks that were left on my son's arms.'
Another distraught father, Justin, said he had to figure out that his seven-year-old daughter was one of those impacted through news reports.
'To go and get a f***ing seven-year-old girl STI tested, and trying to remain calm. I could burst into tears now,' he said.
Father-of-three, Satbir, recalled the moment he handed his daughter over to be cared for by an alleged sex offender at the Point Cook centre.
'I dropped off my child into his hands a couple of times,' Satbir told AAP.
'I'm a bit worried, I (need) to find out everything. I've seen him in the classroom where I dropped my children.'
A spokesperson for G8 Education, which oversees Creative Garden Point Cook, told the Herald it was taking all allegations very seriously.
'At Creative Garden Point Cook, the safety and wellbeing of all children in our care is our highest priority,' they said.
'We are committed to providing a safe environment for all children and families.'
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan on Wednesday announced an urgent review of childcare safety would be prioritised by her government.
Daycare centres will be required to enforce a ban on personal devices from September 26 or be subject to a $50,000 fine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
39 minutes ago
- BBC News
Fire-hit building in Matlock unsafe for investigation work
A derelict fire-hit building in Derbyshire has been left unsafe for investigations into the cause to Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Matlock, Crich, Alfreton, Clay Cross and Wirksworth were called to Lumsdale Road, Matlock, at 17:20 BST on were advised to keep windows and doors closed while the blaze was dealt with but as darkness fell crews were forced to leave the scene at about 22: fire was fully out by about 11:30 on Wednesday but the brigade said the "unsafe condition" of the building has prevented any investigators from beginning a probe into the cause.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Boy, 14, tragically dies in horror e-bike crash at Arncliffe in front of traumatised witnesses
A teenage boy has died after he fell from an e-bike in Sydney 's south.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Federal government to fast-track childcare safety legislation as Victoria appoints Jay Weatherill to conduct snap review of sector
The federal government will fast-track legislation in the next sitting week to cut funding to childcare centres that fail to meet safety standards, after shocking allegations of sexual abuse by a worker in Melbourne's western suburbs. It comes as the Victorian government announced former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior bureaucrat Pamela White have been appointed to lead an urgent review of childcare safety. The review was set up on Wednesday after it was revealed on Tuesday that Joshua Dale Brown had been charged with sexually abusing eight children, aged between five months and two years old, in his care. The case has sparked widespread outrage and intensified pressure on both federal and state governments to act swiftly, particularly as concerns about safety in the childcare system had already been raised earlier this year. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The federal education minister, Jason Clare, is preparing to introduce new laws to parliament in the first sitting week, beginning on 22 July. Designed to strengthen regulatory and enforcement powers to putting profit over child safety, they will prevent providers persistently failing to meet minimum standards from opening new centres, and cut off childcare subsidy funding for repeat offender operators and those guilty of egregious breaches. New powers will also be introduced to deal with providers that pose integrity risks and introduce new powers of entry to give authorised officers under the Family Assistance Law to conduct spot checks and unannounced visits at centres. Currently they require a warrant or for Australian federal police officers to accompany them. The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority's 2023/24 annual report shows that 1,599 childcare centres – about 10% of all providers – were rated as 'working towards' meeting the regulatory standards. It remains unclear whether these centres would immediately lose funding under the proposed federal changes. It comes after the Victorian minister for children, Lizzie Blandthorn, criticised of the 'frustratingly slow' progress on national reforms and the lack of federal funding for state regulators since 2018. State and federal education ministers last week agreed more funding for regulators may be considered in the future. 'We all agree it's taken too bloody long, and we're determined to act here,' Clare told Channel Seven's Sunrise on Thursday. The Greens, however, are calling on a federal independent early childhood commission to regulate the sector and act as a watchdog, as recommended by the Productivity Commission's 2024 review into the sector. In a letter to the prime minister, their early education spokesperson, Steph Hodgins-May, said such a commission would work with state and territory governments to enforce quality standards and have the power to crack down on rogue childcare operators and shut down unsafe centres. 'We already have world leading national quality standards, but standards alone are not enough. For them to mean anything, they must be backed by a regulator and clear accountability,' she said. Meanwhile, the Victorian government's review will be led by Weatherill, who now serves as executive director of democracy at the Susan McKinnon Foundation and previously led the Minderoo Foundation's Thrive by Five early learning reform campaign, and White, who has held senior roles across the Victorian public service for three decades. White has worked across child protection, disability, housing, youth justice, emergency management and education and currently chairs the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority and serves on the board of the Country Fire Authority. The review will report back by 15 August and the premier, Jacinta Allan, has pledged to adopt all recommendations and implement them 'as quickly as possible'. 'I say again: this is a criminal matter and I won't say or do anything that could jeopardise the process for justice,' Allan said. 'My government will take every action possible – as soon as possible – to strengthen safety standards in early childhood education and care, to keep Victorian children safe.' The government on Wednesday announced it will develop its own childcare worker registration system as it waits for a national scheme to be established. It will also require all childcare centres to adopt the federal ban on personal devices by 26 September or face fines up to $50,000. The shadow attorney general, Michael O'Brien, said Victoria should also follow New South Wales in removing the right to appeal denied working with children checks, citing a 2022 ombudsman report that described the state's laws as 'some of the weakest in the nation'.
