How Australian Federal Police caught childcare worker accused of child sex abuse

To catch the man who could be Australia’s worst alleged paedophile, police had to look beyond thousands of sickening images for clues in the background. Here’s how they did it.

The AFP alleges the man recorded his offences on phones and cameras while working in 10 childcare centres

It wasn’t just the sickening images — it was the seemingly innocent objects in the background of those pictures posted on the dark web — which gave police the break they needed in one of Australia’s most horrific alleged child abuse cases.

Those objects were ultimately traced to a Brisbane child care centre, finally giving police their alleged offender — eight years after the pictures were allegedly posted.

It was the culmination of a mammoth police investigation which spanned two states, extended overseas, and took almost a decade.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) operation to investigate, charge and arrest a former child care employee over 1623 child abuse offences against 91 children was “complex”, senior officers say.

The investigation began in 2014 when Queensland Police located alleged child abuse images and videos on the dark web.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and other agencies examined the images and in August 2022 were able to trace objects identified in the background of the alleged images and videos. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

These images were then posted on an international victim identification database, where investigators sought assistance from the global victim-identification community.

Eight years on, the AFP and other agencies examined the images and in August 2022 were able to trace objects identified in the background of the alleged images and videos from 2013 – 2014 to the Brisbane childcare centre.

Following inquiries with the childcare centre, the AFP executed an early-morning search warrant on August 20, 2022, arresting a 45 year-old man in Brisbane’s southwestern suburbs.

Operation Tenterfield began in August 2022, and the alleged pedophile was charged with making and distributing child abuse material on his phone and cameras and posting that material on the dark web.

In the next 48 hours, the AFP executed two more search warrants, including at the man’s Gold Coast home, seizing electronic devices including his phone, cameras and a hard-drive containing the child abuse material he had allegedly created.

The AFP executed two further search warrants including at the man’s Gold Coast home and seized electronic devices including his phone, cameras and a hard-drive.

In September 2022, the AFP co-ordinated a joint-agency task force with Queensland Police at the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) to review almost 4000 seized images and videos the man had allegedly created.

Victim identification specialists helped identify 91 children who had allegedly been abused by the man.

In November, 2022, the AFP gave NSW Police the evidence for them to investigate alleged offences in NSW. They launched Strike Force Boorong to investigate at a Sydney child care centre.

Fast forward to July 2023, and the AFP laid further charges against the man (in addition to the three original charges) for alleged offences against 64 children in Queensland, and four children overseas.

The AFP alleges the man recorded his offences on phones and cameras while working in 10 childcare centres in Brisbane from 2007 to 2013, and from 2018 to 2022; an overseas location in 2013 and 2014; and one centre in Sydney between 2014 and 2017.

All the children allegedly offended against were pre-pubescent girls.

The case is now scheduled for a mention in Brisbane Magistrates Court on 21 August, 2023.

Originally published as How Australian Federal Police caught childcare worker accused of child sex abuse