Former childcare worker charged with 1,623 child sex offences
Police have revealed a former childcare worker has been charged with 1,623 child abuse offences against 91 children, including 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.
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TVTranscript
00:00 This was certainly a very significant investigation and involved the Queensland Police Service,
00:07 the New South Wales Police and the Australian Federal Police.
00:11 Now Operation Tenterfield began when the QPS found alleged child abuse images and videos
00:17 on the dark web in 2014.
00:20 Fast forward to August 2022 when Federal Police traced objects identified in the background
00:26 of these images and videos to a Brisbane childcare centre.
00:30 They executed a search warrant there and arrested the 45-year-old man.
00:34 This is what Justine Goh had to say about the investigation itself.
00:39 The QPS and our partners never gave up trying to identify the alleged offender and the children
00:44 in the images.
00:46 Fortunately for investigators, everything that someone does online leaves a trace.
00:51 In August 2022, the AFP was able to trace objects identified in the background of the
00:59 alleged images and videos posted on the dark web between 2013 and 2014 to a Brisbane childcare
01:07 centre.
01:08 Given there were so many alleged images and videos of children recorded over 15 years
01:13 of the alleged offenders on the alleged offenders devices, the process of identification took
01:20 time, skill and determination.
01:25 And what happens next, Keira?
01:28 Well in terms of court proceedings, the man is due to have the matter mentioned in Brisbane
01:34 court, in a Brisbane court later this month.
01:37 Once he faces the charges here in Queensland, police will seek his extradition back to New
01:42 South Wales where he'll face 180 child sex abuse related charges against 23 victims aged
01:50 one to five.
01:51 Now he faces life in prison.
01:53 This is what Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald from the New South Wales Police had to say
01:57 about next steps.
01:59 The New South Wales Police Force have obtained a warrant for the arrest of this 45-year-old
02:03 man.
02:05 That warrant relates to 180 charges of child sexual abuse.
02:10 23 victims are part of those 180 charges.
02:15 Those charges carry life in Brisbane.
02:21 Once this man faces the AFP charges here in Queensland, we will be seeking his extradition
02:28 back to New South Wales.
02:30 This is one of the most horrific child abuse cases that I've seen in nearly 40 years of
02:36 policing and New South Wales Police will continue to relentlessly pursue this matter on behalf
02:43 of our 23 victims who remain our number one priority.
02:49 Alongside our partner agencies, we are absolutely committed to prosecuting anyone who comes
02:56 after our most vulnerable.
02:59 Now police are limited in the details they can provide in regards to what childcare centres
03:04 were involved and of course the identity of the children.
03:08 However this is certainly a very distressing and dark day for so many people, especially
03:13 survivors of sexual assault.
03:15 [BLANK_AUDIO]