A former childcare worker in Australia has been presented before a court facing charges with more than 1,600 counts of child abuse, including rape, against 91 girls across the country and abroad over a period of 15 years.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) authorities say they became aware of the alleged offenses committed by the 45-year-old Gold Coast educator after they recently identified a video discovered on the dark web in 2014, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday.
He was arrested in August 2022 when police allegedly discovered a hard drive filled with child pornography by young girls while he was executing a search warrant at his home and other locations. just different.
AFP deputy commissioner Justine Gough described the alleged breach as “deeply distressing” and “incomprehensible”.
The man now faces 1,623 child abuse charges, including 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of having sex with a child under the age of 10, believed to have taken place between 2007 and 2022. AFP alleges violations occurred at 10 childcare centers in Brisbane between 2007 and 2013, 2018 and 2022; an overseas location in 2013 and 2014; and a center in Sydney from 2014 to 2017.
The man worked at other daycares, but AFP confirmed there were no charges that the man caused offense at those daycares.
Gough said officers were pleased that the 87 Australian girls listed in the document alleging child abuse had been identified and their parents had been notified. Some of the alleged victims are now over 18 years old.
AFP believes the man – who has a childcare qualification – has documented all of his child abuse offenses. AFP is working with international authorities to identify four children in audio recordings believed to have been made abroad.
New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the man would also face more than 100 charges in New South Wales.
He said: “Once this man faces AFP charges in Queensland, we will seek his extradition to Sydney to face the full force of the law in New South Wales.
Fitzgerald said NSW Police would not call a victim witness to pursue the case, preventing victims from being re-traumatized.
“This is one of the most horrific cases of child abuse I’ve seen in my nearly 40 years as a police officer,” he said.
