Employer investigated Joshua Brown twice before arrest over alleged child sex abuse

Accused Melbourne paedophile Joshua Dale Brown was the subject of two internal investigations after colleagues complained he “forcibly” grabbed the arms and legs of children under his care.

Brown, 26, is due to appear in court in September after being charged with more than 70 offences allegedly involving children he worked with. He had been employed across 20 childcare centres between 2017 and May this year.

Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown has been charged with more than 70 offences.

The two internal investigations occurred while Brown was employed by national childcare giant G8 between October 2021 and February 2024.

G8 chief executive Pejman Okhovat said the first investigation took place in April 2023 after three of his colleagues reported that Brown “aggressively picked up and put down” a child and did not support the upset child.

The Department of Education and the Commission for Children and Young People were notified following the alleged incident.

G8 substantiated the complaints and issued Brown a formal written warning, placing him on a performance improvement plan, which included further training.

Brown took three months’ leave from G8 after the finding against him.

A second investigation occurred in January 2024 after a parent and two of Brown’s co-workers complained he had raised his voice and “forcibly grabbed the arm of one child, the leg of another child and forcibly pulled off that child’s shoe”, Okhovat said.

Brown was suspended from work after G8 was notified about the conduct, pending the completion of the probe into his behaviour.

The 26-year-old resigned before the investigation was complete, but G8 said it had again substantiated the allegations against Brown, providing the final report to the Department of Education and the Commission for Children and Young People.

Police were notified about Brown’s conduct both times, but referred the complaint back to G8 for an internal investigation and disciplinary action.

A Victoria Police spokesman said investigators were “looking carefully” at Brown’s employment history and any complaints about his behaviour.

“We have made progress on this and continue to encourage parents or staff to contact Crimestoppers if they are aware of any formal or informal complaints that have been made to the childcare centres or police,” he said.

Meena Singh, Victoria’s acting Commissioner for Children and Young People, declined to comment directly on complaints made against Brown for fear of prejudicing ongoing investigations.

But she said childcare centres are subject to the reportable conduct scheme and must notify her office about any allegations of abuse and investigate them.

The reportable conduct scheme covers a wide range of alleged child-related misconduct, including physical violence, neglect, psychological harm and sexual offences.

Findings from investigations into questionable conduct by workers must be reported back to the commissioner, and police must be notified if there are allegations of criminal conduct.

Singh said if an organisation substantiated a claim that a worker or volunteer has committed reportable conduct, her office must notify the Department of Government Services to review the person’s working with children check.

G8 chief executive officer Pejman Okhovat.

“However, legislation allows for a referral not to be made, for example, where the nature and degree of the reportable conduct would be better addressed through training or supervision,” she said.

Okhovat said child protection was G8’s No.1 priority and allegations regarding child safety were taken “extremely seriously”.

“All families who were impacted by the allegations were informed of the investigations and their outcomes,” he said. “The situation highlighted by these incidents is why we continue to strongly advocate for the need for national harmonisation of policies, regulations, systems and processes across governments and regulators across Australia.”

G8 and private equity-owned Affinity Education, where Brown was also employed, confirmed last week that they would roll out CCTV at their childcare centres after Brown’s alleged conduct came to light.

Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward.Credit: Justin McManus

Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward, speaking on behalf of the Allan government on Sunday, was asked about the two substantiated reports of aggressive behaviour and why Brown’s working with children’s check wasn’t revoked at the time.

Ward declined to comment specifically on those reports, saying she did not want to jeopardise current police work.

However, the minister insisted Premier Jacinta Allan had acted quickly once the child sexual abuse allegations were known.

“I know that everybody in this state is horrified by these allegations,” Ward said. “We do need to let Victoria Police absolutely, thoroughly, go and do this investigation.”

Ward added that the children’s commissioner would continue to receive funding. However, she would not say if that funding would be increased so that the watchdog could thoroughly investigate more than the most serious cases.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said parents’ trust in Victoria’s regulatory system had been shattered. “The Allan Labor government must listen to the Liberals’ and Nationals’ repeated calls to recall parliament and pass urgent legislation to establish an independent watchdog for childcare in Victoria.”

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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