A perverted teacher raped a 5-month-old baby. The youngest victim was only 2 years old. 1,200 children are at risk of infection.

Australia Shocked: Nanny Arrested for Raping Child Under Five at Daycare; More Than 1,200 Children Ordered to Be Tested for STDs

Melbourne, Australia – Health authorities in the Australian state of Victoria have issued an urgent call for more than 1,200 children to be tested for STDs after daycare worker Joshua Dale Brown (26) was charged with the serious sexual offence of raping a child.

Brown was arrested in May and is now facing 70 charges for abusing at least eight children under the age of two, the youngest being a five-month-old baby, at a daycare centre in suburban Melbourne between April 2022 and January 2023.

Shockingly, she held a valid child working permit and had no previous suspicious background. G8 Education, which operates Creative Garden and other centres where Brown worked, issued a statement confirming that background checks had been carried out in accordance with the law. Affinity Education, which operates the 12 childcare centres where Brown worked, issued a similar statement reaffirming its “zero tolerance policy for child abuse”.

The head of the Victorian Sexual Assault Service said this was not the first case and may not be the last, and called on society and the government to improve the safety of the system.

Brown has worked in 20 childcare centers in Victoria since 2017, prompting the Victorian Health Department to alert all parents who may have sent their children to his care and recommend that they get tested. So far, more than 2,600 families have been contacted.

Dr. Christian McGrath, the state’s chief public health officer, said Brown tested positive for gonorrhea and had urged about 1,200 children to be screened for gonorrhea, an infection that can be treated with antibiotics. He declined to give specific details.

Brown is currently in custody awaiting trial and will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in September. Victoria Police Commissioner Janet Stevenson said the case needed to be heard anonymously so that parents across the state could inquire whether their children had been cared for by Brown.

Liz, a parent who did not want to be named, said she was very worried and wanted to show her son a photo of Brown to see if he knew him. Another father said he had just learned about the incident on the news and rushed to pick up his son, and criticized the identity verification system for the nursery staff as “useless”.

Another parent said: “He looked like a cheerful boy with shiny hair. No one would think he would do such a thing. I couldn’t bear the thought that my son might be there and didn’t know it.”

Police are also investigating whether Brown opened another childcare center in Essendon, another suburb of Melbourne.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said: “I am disgusted by these allegations. I am heartbroken for the families who are experiencing every parent’s worst nightmare. Families across Victoria are living in fear and anger. I can confirm that the government has set up a dedicated website to provide information and support to families affected by this terrible incident.”

Australian society is currently paying attention to this case, which may become one of the most serious and common crimes against children in many years.