The police allege childcare worker Joshua Brown sexually abused multiple children. Photo / News.com.au
A second man has been charged with a number of child sexual offences after Tuesday’s revelation of the alleged large-scale sexual abuse of children at Victorian childcare centres.
The charges against the man, named Michael Simon Wilson, stem from the probe into childcare worker Joshua Brown.
Yesterday, Victorian Police announced they had charged Brown, 26, with 70 offences after he allegedly abused eight children at a Point Cook childcare centre in Melbourne.
Police allege the children were aged between 5 months and 2 years.
A widespread investigation has now been launched, with Victoria’s chief health officer saying 1200 children have been recommended to undergo infectious diseases testing.
Wilson’s alleged offences, which include rape and bestiality, are not believed to involve childcare centres or any of Brown’s alleged victims.
The two men are reportedly known to each other.
Brown was arrested on May 12 and is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 15.
The police allege Brown worked at 20 centres across the state between January 2017 and May 2025.
On Wednesday, Education Minister Jason Clare announced a close friend of his has been impacted by the allegations.
“I know that they’re angry because one of those parents is a friend of mine and her two little girls are directly affected by this,” Clare said on Wednesday.
“And I won’t tell you what she told me last night because you can’t repeat it on television, but she’s right to be mad.
“I’m mad. I think anyone who works in the early education system, and there are hundreds of thousands of fantastic people who do, would be angry today as well.
“And my friend is mad because of all of the stress and the trauma and the crap that she and her girls are going to have to go through in the weeks ahead.”
Victoria’s chief health officer Christian McGrath said 2600 families had been contacted after the arrest of Brown.
The Department of Health recommended 1200 children undergo screening and testing as a “precautionary measure”.
“The risk is low, but there’s not no risk, which is why we’re making this recommendation,” he said in an update on Wednesday.
He said the department had assisted 1300 families across Tuesday.
Clare said the problem of predators in childcare settings was “serious” and required “serious action”.
“It’s one of the reasons why I put this on the top of the agenda when education ministers met last week,” he said.
“Let me be clear – when education ministers met to discuss child safety last week, we didn’t discuss this case, but we discussed what are the next steps that we need to take as a nation to make sure that our kids are safe in early education and care?”
The Government has already banned personal mobile phones in centres and changed rules around mandatory reporting from seven days to 24 hours after complaints about sexual or physical abuse.
Clare promised further reforms, including cutting off funding for centres that fail to meet minimum standards.
He also flagged changes to background checks for workers.
“It’s taken too long to do the work necessary to make sure that our Working with Children Check system is up to scratch,” he said.
“I’ve spoken a number of times with the Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland, the new Attorney-General, and I think I can safely speak on her behalf – she agrees, and is determined to take the action necessary here to make sure that our working with children checks across the nation are up to scratch.
“That’ll be something that will be discussed by Attorneys-General when they meet next month.”
He cautioned that a working with children check was not a “silver bullet”.
“In too many examples, a perpetrator is eventually caught and arrested and sentenced, there’s somebody that got a Working with Children Check because they had no prior criminal record,” he said.
“And so it’s only one of the things that we need to focus on here if we’re serious about making sure that we keep our kids safe.”
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said urgent changes were also incoming for the state.
“There is a substantial amount of work that is already underway across the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to strengthen the safety in the sector,” she said in an update on Wednesday.
“Here in Victoria, though, I won’t wait. Families cannot wait. More needs to happen now.”
The state Government will immediately begin building a register for childcare workers, she said, and will bring forward a policy to ban personal devices in centres.
“To avoid delay, we’ll be putting all Victorian childcare centres on notice,” she said.
“They will be required to adopt this ban on personal devices, effective from September 26.
“Childcare centres who don’t comply with this ban will have this placed on them as a condition of licence and may face fines of up to A$50,000 [$54,000].”
The Premier will also commission an “urgent review” into childcare safety, with more details expected at the end of the week.
The review will examine the possibility of installing CCTV cameras in centres and deploying a “four eyes” principle, meaning children should not be left alone with a single adult.
It will also review whether the five-year working with children check timeframe should be shortened.
The Premier said she had “not been briefed” on Wilson’s arrest.
Some families will be eligible for a $5000 support payment, the Government has confirmed, to help cover alternative care arrangements, loss of earnings and other practical needs after Tuesday.