Approximately twelve hundred Australian children must undergo an STI test as a precaution after a 26-year-old daycare worker from Melbourne was charged with child abuse. The man is suspected of more than seventy offenses, including rape.
The daycare worker is suspected of abusing eight children between April 2022 and January 2023, including a five-month-old baby. Police suspect he may have abused more children.
The children who need to be tested as a precaution attend daycare centers where the suspect worked. The man has worked in twenty daycare centers since 2017.
The daycare worker was arrested in May. His name and the charges were announced on Tuesday so that parents can check if their child has had contact with him. “It is very important that every parent who has a child in daycare knows who he is and where he has worked,” Acting Police Commander Janet Stevenson said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Australian media reported on Wednesday that police have also charged another man with child sexual abuse. He is also charged with possession of images of child abuse and bestiality. He is an acquaintance of the earlier suspect. Both men are due to appear in court in September.
State wants to ban phones for daycare workers
The Australian Minister of Education, Jason Clare, wants to tighten the legislation so that the government can stop funding childcare centers if they do not meet safety standards. Clare also said at a press conference that he wants to review the licensing system for working with children. He said this after the police announced that the 26-year-old daycare worker had a valid permit.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan of the Australian state of Victoria said on Wednesday that she had launched an investigation into the daycare centers where the first suspect worked.
The state also wants to create a register of childcare workers “as soon as possible” to allow for extra control. In addition, Victoria wants to introduce a telephone ban for daycare workers as quickly as possible and the state is investigating the possibility of installing video cameras.