A man accused of abusing children across multiple daycare centres in Sydney has been hit with 129 new charges as investigators identify more alleged victims and prepare to tell parents their “worst nightmare” has come true.
The man, who cannot be named under court order, was charged in July last year by the Australian Federal Police with eight counts of using a child to make abusive material.
AFP investigators from Operation Moonbi, after combing through mountains of digital evidence for the last nine months, laid an additional 129 charges as the former daycare worker prepared to face court on Friday.
The full 137 charges now include 68 counts of producing child abuse material, 18 counts of using a child for the production of abuse material, 11 counts aggravated and seven counts of sexual touching a child.
Some of the new charges carry a sentence of 20 years in prison.
“We know matters like this are a parent’s worst nightmare, and we have investigators and digital forensic experts working around the clock to methodically review 2.4 million electronic files,” AFP Detective Superintendent Luke Needham said.
“Our priority is to analyse all available evidence and engage impacted families as soon as possible.
“It is important we compile a complete account of the offending, so the appropriate support is provided for the specific individual circumstances of each impacted family.”
The man has remained in custody since his arrest and has yet to enter a plea. His name was suppressed after his arrest was reported by 10 News+, at the request of investigators.
This masthead revealed the man had allegedly hoarded millions of digital files, providing investigators with a mountain of evidence.
Each file must be inspected to identify if it contains child abuse material.
Each potential child abuse image must be forensically examined to determine the identity of the child and specifics of the crime.
The meticulous examination, carried out by forensic specialists over the last nine months, has revealed the man allegedly filmed children in states of undress opportunistically while they were under his care at multiple centres.
The sexual touching charges, laid this week, centre around the man’s alleged actions undressing children in his care to film them.
Investigators have not found any evidence of sexual abuse beyond undressing and filming children.
The families of children who have been identified as alleged victims will be contacted by the AFP within a few weeks, this masthead has been told by sources with knowledge of the case.
No parent has yet been contacted by police.
“The AFP is following well-developed and practiced processes to ensure that impacted families receive the support they need, while ensuring that evidence is obtained correctly and in the appropriate format for a successful criminal prosecution,” Needham said.
Investigators are trying to avoid contacting a family to reveal horrific abuse of their child, only to return weeks later for a second interview if additional abuse was uncovered in the mountain of files.
The forensic investigation of the digital files is nearing its end, however, and police are now expected to contact families in weeks.
The scope of the alleged abuse has meant the AFP has designated the investigation among its top priorities, and devoted national experts to speed up the investigation.
Parents are able to share information with investigators at op-moonbi@afp.gov.au.
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
