Accused childcare rapist Joshua Dale Brown is set to admit responsibility for his crimes, as the lawyers for both sides flag they will seek the assistance of a County Court judge to determine which of his 156 charges will proceed.
Brown, 27, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court remotely from custody at Barwon Prison, where he is being held in the Banksia Unit, a specialised management and protection unit within the jail. He is facing more than a hundred charges, including sexually penetrating multiple children he was employed to care for.
Defence barrister Rishi Nathwani, KC, told the court his client, who appeared sporting a blond ponytail and green tracksuit, accepted “quite a significant amount of the offending”.
The issue that remained, he said, was how the charges would be presented. Nathwani said he’d been in constant contact with the prosecution, who agreed the parties needed the assistance of a higher court.
Brown then pleaded not guilty – as a technicality, Nathwani said – to 156 charges.
“He will enter not guilty pleas, really as holding pleas in the circumstances,” Nathwani said.
“You can take it from me, I saw Mr Brown last Monday, that he’s aware of all the charges.
“What I can say is that while Mr Brown accepts quite a significant amount of the offending, the issue appears to be what that means in terms of the charges concerned.”
Crown prosecutor Michael Stanton, SC, agreed that discussions between legal counsel had been exhausted, with three new charges filed and six recently withdrawn.
Brown stands accused of abusing multiple children during his work at four daycare centres in Melbourne’s west, including one he worked at weeks after graduating from high school.
In May 2025, police discovered a cache of child abuse material allegedly linked to Brown, which sparked an urgent police investigation and plunged Australia’s childcare sector into crisis.
At the time it emerged that Brown had worked at 24 centres across Melbourne over more than eight years.
Brown is charged with offences including abusing eight children at Point Cook daycare Creative Garden between April 2022 and January 2023. Police also allege he sent child abuse material to another man while recording himself contaminating children’s food with bodily fluids.
This prompted unprecedented testing for sexually transmitted infections for kids at affected centres.
Brown is also facing charges of bestiality offences, not related to childcare.
Magistrate Donna Bakos noted the plea and directed Brown face a directions hearing in the County Court of Victoria on June 23.
She also noted there was no application for bail made.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
