The four-year-old who helped snare an abusive daycare worker

Warning: This story contains graphic content

When an abusive daycare worker touched four-year-old KC’s genitals, the child turned to the man, asked, “Why are you pinching me on the doodle?” and bit him.

It was his actions that led the worker, Muhammad Ali, then 30, to be charged with three counts of committing an act of indecency against three children, including KC, at the daycare centre in 2022.

Louise Edmonds, a founding member of the Independent Collective of Survivors, has called for greater supervision of daycare workers.Credit: Janie Barrett

According to his mother, KC alleged Ali had been assaulting him for three months by playing games of tag where players touched each other on the genitals.

That day, Ali touched him in a “blind spot” in the playground where there was no CCTV.

A Supreme Court trial relied on the children’s disclosures. Ali was found not guilty of touching another four-year-old boy, and a jury failed to reach a verdict for a three-year-old girl.

KC was the only victim whose complaint led to a conviction, with Ali sentenced to 18 months in prison last year. He is up for parole this month.

KC’s mother said the only reason her son was able to describe what had happened to him was thanks to a child abuse prevention education course, which taught her how to discuss body safety with her son.

“I think the other children were disclosing, but no one understood,” she said.

Other parents weren’t notified about KC’s allegations. KC’s mother informed two other parents at a birthday party, leading them to recognise signs in their children.

“The centre swept it under the rug,” she said.

The children and the centre, which is in Canberra, cannot be named for legal reasons.

While daycare providers are required to notify the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority and government departments about incidents, there is no statutory requirement to inform parents about abuse allegations or convictions.

KC’s mother has joined a chorus of parents calling for more to be done to protect children in daycare.

Last month, three childcare staffers were arrested for child abuse in as many days amid a spate of unrelated abuse across NSW.

Former child abuse detective turned educator Kristi McVee said the arrests highlighted how important it was to educate parents, children and staff about a perpetrator’s red flags.

“[Abusers] are very good at masking what their real intentions are … There are many warning signs, but if you’re not educated in them or not paying attention, it’s really hard to pick up on them,” she said.

McVee added that perpetrators may try to get close with the family and friends of whoever they’re trying to groom and discredit those who raise concerns by labelling children as “naughty”.

“We’re trusting them with children who are young, vulnerable, and most of them are unable to speak or to be able to give an accurate disclosure. So why aren’t we giving them as much protection as we can?”

‘There are many warning signs but if you’re not educated in them or not paying attention, it’s really hard to pick up on them.’

Kristi McVee, former detective

The former police officer said investigators had to be careful that the information they shared with parents didn’t affect potential criminal charges.

“There’s a risk parents tell everyone on Facebook and damage evidence [such as by] asking leading questions to their children,” she said.

McVee said police also tried to contain details of their investigations to stop parties from tampering or deleting evidence, including those worried about being caught in the “crossfire” of allegations.

“The potential for people to clam up and destroy evidence is also there,” she said.

Louise Edmonds alleges she saw a daycare worker in Sydney playing with children while aroused: “He was lifting a child and blowing raspberries on their belly. When he put the child down, he had an erection,” she said.

Police were called, but the man escaped criminal charges.

‘There is too much happening’

Since that 2017 incident, Edmonds, a founding member of the Independent Collective of Survivors, has been calling for greater supervision for daycare workers and for male daycare workers to be banned from toilet and nappy duties.

“Little boys still need male mentors … however, there is too much happening around the sexual harm of young children,” she said.

Advocates, including Melissa Halliday and the group Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia, are also calling for the Child Protection Register to be made public, listing the names and suburbs of convicted child sex offenders.

“We want the register to enable law enforcement agencies to manage the behaviour of convicted child sex offenders but also keep communities safe from predators,” Halliday said.

Child offender information is managed under the Australian National Child Offender Register and the Managed Person System, which can only be accessed by authorised people such as police officers.

A spokesperson from the Attorney-General’s Department said the Commonwealth government was committed to supporting states and territories to manage the potential risk to the community from registered child sex offenders.

A national child sex offender register would require close collaboration with states and territories to manage data and be “carefully considered” to ensure it enhances community safety and reduces reoffending, the spokesperson said.

Care would also be needed to avoid “the inadvertent identification of victims … and ensuring that the register does not encourage unlawful conduct [such as public vigilantism]”, they said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly and Education Minister Jason Clare had “deep concern for the safety of children” and will implement key recommendations from a review of child safety arrangements under the National Quality Framework.

“The safety, health and wellbeing of all children who attend early childhood education and care services is paramount,” the spokesperson said.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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