23-07-2025
All STD results negative in childcare screening so far, says Victorian minister
All children tested so far for sexually transmitted diseases in relation to accused childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown have tested negative, the Victorian government says.
Deputy premier Ben Carroll provided an update on Wednesday morning on the testing exercise of about 2,000 children being undertaken as part of a police investigation into the alleged 26-year-old child abuser.
Mr Carroll said the latest advice he'd received had come from direct conversations with staff at the Royal Children's Hospital.
"What we have been advised is there is no child that has been tested positive for an STD," he told reporters.
"I think they've [hospital staff] tested just about everyone — but I can get that clarified — and all the tests have been negative."
Mr Brown is facing more than 70 charges, including rape of children, sexual activity in the presence of a child and contaminating food.
The charges, which were first made public on July 1, relate to eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between April 2022 and January 2023.
Out of caution, health authorities initially recommended STD screening for 1,200 children, taking in other centres where Brown has worked.
They then later recommended testing for another 800 Brown is expected to be hit with further criminal charges, following a brief court hearing on Tuesday during which his lawyer Rishi Nathwani KC said his client's charges were "in flux".
Charge sheets released by the Melbourne Magistrates' Court show Mr Brown faces 73 charges, including 28 of producing child abuse material, 24 of transmitting child abuse material, 13 of sexually touching a child under 16 and three of sexual penetration of a child under 12.
