Man investigated for ‘blowing raspberries’ onto child’s tummy at Sydney childcare

An Aussie childcare worker was fired after a mum busted him acting inappropriately to a toddler — and the parent who caught him hasn’t stopped fighting for change.

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

A Sydney childcare worker was investigated by authorities after a parent caught him acting inappropriately with a little girl, documents have revealed.

The mother who reported the behaviour has shared her story with news.com.au in the hope to help enact systemic change regarding supervision rules in early childhood centres.

It was a day like any other, except for the vital fact the normally-busy mum had more time than usual to take her daughter to the outdoor playground area after dropping her off at daycare in an inner-southern suburb of Sydney.

“There were two staff members out there with all the kids sitting on the artificial grass on the play area,” she said.

The man was fired following the report. Picture: Stock image

“I’m a victim of child sex abuse, so I’m hypersensitive. If I see something, I’ll say something — I don’t have this code of silence, where (as) I think a lot of people doubt their intuition if they see something”.

In the corner of the play area, the woman saw a male worker sitting alone with a single child, “blowing raspberries” into her stomach.

“I know it is a fact that you cannot touch children like that in a daycare centre,” she said.

“And (the child) was giggling and laughing. That kind of flared my senses. I thought when I leave, I’ll say something to management”.

An email showing the mother following up on the report with the centre. Picture: Supplied

Upon searching for her phone to take a photograph, she realised she’d left it in the car.

Shocked and disturbed, she went inside and confided in a female staff member.

“I actually got him fired,” she said.

“He was then subsequently arrested because the daycare centre worked in tandem with me ... I had to write a stat(utory) dec(laration) of exactly what I saw (for the police investigation)”.

An affidavit seen by news.com.au confirms the woman’s version of events given to authorities were as she recounted to this outlet. News.com.au does not suggest the contact was sexual in nature.

But her fight did not stop there.

The woman’s affidavit regarding the incident. Picture: Supplied

She pushed for new rules across the company’s chain of NSW centres which required more than one supervisor to be with children at all times.

Similar blanket rules were needed across the country, she said — especially in the wake of news a former Gold Coast childcare worker had recently been charged with Australia’s most widespread child exploitation.

The several prominent child abuse survivor networks the woman was a member of cannot be named in order to protect her identity, but she had informed herself widely on the issue as an advocate.

“I really feel there needs to be a movement of systemic change in the daycare world,” she said, while acknowledging that not all childcare workers harm children.

There are calls for wider changes of supervision rules. Picture: Stock image

“Because if a child experiences trauma at that age, then it completely depletes their belief system, and you have this ongoing rollout of depression and triggers. If you want to look at the economics of it, it costs so much money to treat the trauma in teenage years. Why don’t we just try to prevent it in the first place?”

According to NSW regulations, the number of supervisors required with children increases with their age.

From birth to 24 months old, one educator is needed for every four children.

That increases to five children between the ages of 24 and 36 months old.

But once they reach age three, only one carer is needed for every 10 children.

The mother was motivated to speak out after seeing other parents’ concerns, including a woman whose child was cared for by a Brisbane man charged with more than 1,600 child abuse offences across Australia and overseas.

A NSW Department of Education spokesperson confirmed it investigated a serious allegation at a service in Alexandria.

“Through this investigation, the department determined that the provider took appropriate action in meeting their reporting obligations and the educator was stood down.”

News.com.au could not confirm the status of the criminal investigation.

The relevant childcare centre declined to comment.