‘You can’t imagine, it just makes you sick, I was just overwhelmed with emotions’: Mum reveals her horror amid childcare abuse investigation

The devastated mum of a child who was allegedly preyed upon by childcare worker Joshua Brown says she has “lost trust in the system that was meant to protect the most vulnerable”.

The heartbroken mother of one of the children abused by alleged childcare monster Joshua Brown said she felt like “her soul had been taken out of her body”.

Former childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged last week with more than 70 offences including rape.

Accused pedophile Joshua Brown is facing more than 70 charges. Picture: Facebook

One mother whose child was allegedly abused by Brown has spoken out, saying she and other parents had been failed by the childcare system.

“I felt as if my soul had been taken out of my body – I’ve just been broken since,” she said in a statement to the Herald Sun.

“You can’t imagine, it just makes you sick, I was just overwhelmed with emotions and I started to vomit at what allegedly occurred to my child.

“It makes me sick knowing that he had so much time and so much access to children, alone.’’

The mum said she did not believe her child would ever feel safe returning to any day care centre.

“I feel failed, the childcare system failed us parents,’’ she said. “I lost faith, lost trust in the system that was meant to protect the most vulnerable.

The mum of a child who was allegedly abused at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook says she is ‘overwhelmed with emotions’.

“There has to be changes so that this doesn’t happen to any more families, to any more children.”

Brown is believed to have been transported to Barwon Prison, where he has reportedly been placed under protective custody and isolated from other inmates.

Jodie Harris, Principal with Arnold Thomas & Becker Lawyers who is representing the mother said the woman’s world had been turned upside down since news broke of the sickening allegations.

“Our client is devastated that her child has been sexually abused,” Ms Harris said.

“Placing your child in the care of others is one of the biggest acts of trust a parent can make. Families expect that those working in childcare will protect and nurture the most vulnerable members of our community.”

“The fact that someone had to confidence to go undetected for so long raises red flags about what was going on in those child care centres,” she said.

Brown is believed to have been transported to Barwon Prison. Picture Supplied.

Ms Harris said her legal firm had been contacted by more than 80 families impacted by the alleged abuse.

It comes after the Herald Sun on Sunday revealed that accused sex offenders had been allowed to continue working with children while under police investigation, in what has been described as a catastrophic failure of the state’s child protection laws.

Sexual abuse survivor and Australian Childhood Foundation spokeswoman Emma Hakansson called for mandatory training for childcare workers to help them identify if someone was being abused or abusing.

The current check “is fundamentally not doing enough,’’ she said.

Ms Hakansson said she called for stricter Working With Children check requirements about a year ago.

“While this new case is yet another reason to act, unfortunately for people like me and for the foundation it is not a surprise,” Hakansson said.

Joshua Brown will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in September.

Under current laws, Working With Children checks are suspended if someone is charged with child sex offences – not while they are under investigation.

The state opposition wants anyone under investigation for child sexual abuse or found in possession of child sexual abuse material to have their Working With Children permit cancelled.

Originally published as ‘You can’t imagine, it just makes you sick, I was just overwhelmed with emotions’: Mum reveals her horror amid childcare abuse investigation