Latest news with #CreativeGarden
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
How police caught alleged childcare predator Joshua Brown - as terrified parents reveal warning signs
The shock arrest of a male childcare worker charged with over 70 child sex offences against infants and toddlers followed a police probe into an 'associate'. 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 Although Brown was arrested on May 12, his identity and alleged crimes could not be published until police sought to have a court suppression order lifted on Tuesday.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.
ABC News
18 hours ago
- ABC News
Parents of children potentially abused by alleged child sex offender Joshua Dale Brown speak out
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. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- News.com.au
Accused Victorian childcare abuser Joshua Dale Brown allegedly contaminated children's food with his bodily fluids
A childcare worker alleged to have sexually abused eight infants may have harmed another 1200 children by contaminating their food with his bodily fluids. Joshua Dale Brown is charged with 70 offences, including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. Police sources confirmed the latter charge relates to bodily fluid in food. Christian McGrath, Victoria's chief health officer, said 2600 families had been contacted in the fallout from Brown's arrest. The Department of Health has recommended 1200 children undergo screening and testing as a 'precautionary measure'. 'The risk is low, but there's not no risk, which is why we're making this recommendation,' Mr McGrath said, adding the department had assisted 1300 families across Tuesday. The raid on Brown's Point Cook home in May and his subsequent arrest has sparked one of Victoria's largest police and public health operations in recent memory and shocked the nation. Police allege they located a cache of child abuse material at the 26-year-old's home, triggering intensive efforts to identify eight alleged victims, some as young as five months old. Brown is accused of sexually abusing the infants during his time at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between April 2022 and January 2023. But the investigation has uncovered a far broader potential risk, with police confirming Brown worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne since 2017. After Brown tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection, police and the Victorian Health Department spent weeks planning how to inform families and test more than 1200 children. Meantime, police have revealed fresh details about the allegations surrounding a second man charged with child sexual offences that stem from the probe into Brown. Michael Simon Wilson, a 36-year-old man from Hoppers Crossing, was charged in relation to a sexual assault in Coburg in April against a teenage boy. Wilson's alleged offences are not believed to involve childcare centres or any of Mr Brown's alleged victims but the pair reportedly know each other. Both men are due to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 15.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
What we know about the Melbourne childcare abuse allegations
Since 2017, Brown has worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne. Before Creative Garden, he had worked at large childcare chains G8 Education and Affinity Education and done short-term relief work at other centres. Very little is known about Brown – Age journalists could not find any social media accounts linked to him, and family and friends have so far refused to comment – but he has distinctive arm tattoos and ginger-coloured hair, which he often dyed different colours. He lived in a rented townhouse in Point Cook with a male roommate and a cat. The home is now vacant. On Tuesday, as detectives arrived at Papilio Childcare Centre in Essendon – where Brown has previously worked and where police are investigating whether more abuse occurred – families picking up their children were still learning the news of his arrest. What childcare centres did Brown work at? The Victorian government has published a list of childcare centres where Brown worked and when. You can see the childcare centres in the graphic below, but there are 20 in total across Melbourne and Geelong. Who is Michael Simon Wilson, the second man arrested? Michael Simon Wilson is the second man arrested as part of the same investigation that uncovered Brown's alleged abuse. Wilson's charges are not related to any childcare facilities and involve different alleged victims to those identified in the case against Brown. However, Wilson and Brown are known to each other. You can read more about Wilson here. What can parents do if their child attended one of these centres? The Health Department has contacted about 2600 families, parents and carers by text, email and letters about the case. They have recommended that about 1200 children linked with Brown – so not all the children who attended centres where he worked – undergo testing for sexually transmitted infections. The government is advising families whether their children need to be tested for infections. Medical experts have reassured families potentially affected that most sexually transmitted infections are treatable with a course of antibiotics. Why are children being tested for STIs? Officials said the STI tests have been recommended 'out of an abundance of caution' and based on the risk profile of each child. Children who have not been asked to test for sexually infected diseases do not meet the risk profile designated by officials. A police source told this masthead that Brown had tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease. The testing is expected to involve a full STI screening, such as swabs and urine and blood tests.
The Age
21 hours ago
- The Age
What we know about the Melbourne childcare abuse allegations
Since 2017, Brown has worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne. Before Creative Garden, he had worked at large childcare chains G8 Education and Affinity Education and done short-term relief work at other centres. Very little is known about Brown – Age journalists could not find any social media accounts linked to him, and family and friends have so far refused to comment – but he has distinctive arm tattoos and ginger-coloured hair, which he often dyed different colours. He lived in a rented townhouse in Point Cook with a male roommate and a cat. The home is now vacant. On Tuesday, as detectives arrived at Papilio Childcare Centre in Essendon – where Brown has previously worked and where police are investigating whether more abuse occurred – families picking up their children were still learning the news of his arrest. What childcare centres did Brown work at? The Victorian government has published a list of childcare centres where Brown worked and when. You can see the childcare centres in the graphic below, but there are 20 in total across Melbourne and Geelong. Who is Michael Simon Wilson, the second man arrested? Michael Simon Wilson is the second man arrested as part of the same investigation that uncovered Brown's alleged abuse. Wilson's charges are not related to any childcare facilities and involve different alleged victims to those identified in the case against Brown. However, Wilson and Brown are known to each other. You can read more about Wilson here. What can parents do if their child attended one of these centres? The Health Department has contacted about 2600 families, parents and carers by text, email and letters about the case. They have recommended that about 1200 children linked with Brown – so not all the children who attended centres where he worked – undergo testing for sexually transmitted infections. The government is advising families whether their children need to be tested for infections. Medical experts have reassured families potentially affected that most sexually transmitted infections are treatable with a course of antibiotics. Why are children being tested for STIs? Officials said the STI tests have been recommended 'out of an abundance of caution' and based on the risk profile of each child. Children who have not been asked to test for sexually infected diseases do not meet the risk profile designated by officials. A police source told this masthead that Brown had tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease. The testing is expected to involve a full STI screening, such as swabs and urine and blood tests.
