Former childcare worker charged with 1623 offences against 91 children

A man accused of raping and abusing 91 girls in childcare centres in Brisbane, NSW and overseas had links to a paedophile ring run by a notorious South Australian ringleader.

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One of Australia’s worst accused child-sex offenders allegedly raped and abused 91 girls in childcare centres for 15 years without detection, despite having worked across a dozen different institutions.

The 45-year-old Gold Coast man was allegedly able to commit more than 1600 offences at 10 Brisbane childcare centres, as well as at one centre in NSW and another overseas.

The Courier-Mail can reveal material produced by the man was among a massive catalogue investigators had to comb through after dismantling The Love Zone – the international online paedophile network run by notorious Australian ringleader Shannon McCoole.

Videos and photographs allegedly produced by the man were spotted on the dark web platform by investigators in 2014 following McCoole’s arrest in Adelaide.

Shannon McCoole.

At the time, police had no idea who had produced the material or where it was made, but detectives from Queensland Police Service’s world-renowned Taskforce Argos uploaded it to an international victim identification database to try to identify the girls in the pictures.

It was not until August 2022 that objects in the background of the videos and photographs were traced back to a Brisbane childcare centre by the Australian Federal Police.

AFP officers contacted the childcare centre and their inquiries there allegedly led them to the Gold Coast man.

The childcare worker was arrested on August 20, with detectives initially charging him with making and distributing child-abuse material.

Over the following months, the AFP, along with detectives from QPS, combed through nearly 4000 images allegedly found on the man’s phone and other electronic devices.

Victim identification experts were able to identify 87 little girls allegedly abused by the man in Australia.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said every Australian alleged victim had been identified and police were working with authorities overseas to identify the remaining four.

She said the names of the childcare centres would not be released to protect the children.

“I can assure members of the Australian public that if you have not been contacted by law enforcement, it is extremely unlikely your child was allegedly offended against by the man,” Ms Gough said.

“The AFP is highly confident that all the Australian children who were recorded in the alleged child-abuse material have been identified.

“This is a distressing time for families, carers and the community broadly.

“We know this type of news can re-traumatise survivors of sexual abuse, and, please, I urge those survivors to seek support, or talk to a trusted network, if today’s news has caused distress.”

AFP Assistant Commissioner Cyber Command Justine Gough said ongoing support was being provided to the child victims and their parents. Picture: NCA NewsWire

QPS Acting Assistant Commissioner Col Briggs said police were contacted twice about the man – once in 2021 and again in 2022.

“Both reports were subject to investigation, however there was insufficient evidence to take action against any person based on the evidence available to investigators at that time,” he said.

He said after the man’s arrest an internal review was conducted into both investigations. That review found the matters were appropriately investigated, he said.

Queensland Police Detective Superintendent Col Briggs. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The NSW Police Force has issued a warrant for the man’s future extradition. NSW Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said it was one of the most horrific child-abuse cases he had seen in his nearly 40 years of policing.

“It’s beyond the realms of anyone’s imagination what this person (allegedly) did to these children,” he said.

“I can only say that you try not to be shocked after a long period of time in the police in crime reporting but this is a horrific, horrific case.”

NSW Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the charges were “horrific”. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Child safety advocate Hetty Johnston, of Safeguarding People Australia, said childcare centres should not have places where children could be alone with carers.

“You don’t let someone be alone with a child in a space you can’t see, you just don’t,” she said.

“That should have never happened.

“There should be glass everywhere. The staff in the childcare should have understood how sex offenders operate, what they do, why they do it, what are the signs we are looking for and the behaviours they are looking for.”

Ms Johnston said the Queensland government was yet to implement Child Safe Principles that were recommended as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

There were 10 principles that required key action areas and indicators. “It has been installed in Victoria and New South Wales,” she said.

“People need to understand those principles, they need to know how to implement them and organisations and boards will be held responsible if they don’t do it.”

Child safety advocate Hetty Johnston.

Bravehearts chief executive officer Alison Geale said the allegations highlighted the “urgent need for all child-facing organisations to provide stronger safeguards, of which background checks are only one important component”.

“This requires a holistic focus which includes all child-facing organisations to implement the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse,” Ms Geale said.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said on Wednesday Queensland’s licensing system for those working with children had functioned “appropriately” in this case.

Ms D’Ath ordered an urgent briefing on the man’s interaction with the state’s Blue Card System, which is Queensland’s version of the “working with children check”.

She said the department’s review revealed Blue Card Services had acted appropriately.

“This includes the day Blue Card Services was notified by the AFP of alleged disqualifying offences, at which point the blue card was suspended and employers were notified,” Ms D’Ath said.

“Queensland’s Blue Card system is one of, if not the most stringent in the nation.”

The Blue Card System includes daily monitoring by Queensland Police Service of any changes in a person’s record.

The man will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 21.