A former colleague of an accused paedophile is now wracked with bewilderment closely working with him at a childcare facility.
Alleged paedophile Joshua Brown has been charged with more than 70 child sex offences, including the sexual penetration of a child and producing child abuse material.
The 26-year-old is also charged with recklessly contaminate goods to cause alarm or anxiety, which is understood to refer to the alleged contamination of food with bodily fluids.
A number of the alleged offences took place during his time at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne, where he worked with Jessica (not her real name).
The pair got to know each other while worked together for more than a year caring for children, changing nappies and organising meal times while making small talk about their family and friends.
The pair became so close that Jessica trusted Brown to look after her own children.
That changed on Tuesday, where staff and families were rocked by an urgent warning from the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police for the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases.
Since, then Jessica has struggled to come to grips with the fact that she had suspected nothing while working together.
Alleged paedophile Joshua Brown has been charged with more than 70 child sex offences
The childcare worker flew under the radar at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne
Jessica had had returned home from a school drop-off when she got the email that would turn her her family’s lives upside down.
Her children are among 1,200 that now need to undertake an STI test, which Jessica partially blames herself for.
‘The times when I was working in the room with him, I’ve been playing the scenario back in my head, like did I miss stuff?’ Jessica told the ABC.
‘What the f***? How could this happen?’
She recalled Brown coming across as kind and bubbly.
‘There were no red flags. The staff did not ignore [the alleged abuse]; we are as shocked as everyone,’ she said.
‘I would never let that happen to a child. Like, I’ve been sitting here crying.’
Other parents whose children were under Brown’s care have since begun demanding answers from the childcare centre about how this could have happened.
Brown had worked at a number of childcare centres around Melbourne beginning in 2017
Brown is now behind bars as investigators trace his employment history
Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed on Friday that at least 30 families have already approached a high-profile law firm in Victoria to seek compensation over the alleged actions of Brown while their children were under his care.
Arnold Thomas and Becker Lawyers have confirmed they were contacted by a string of families about potential legal action.
The law firm, which is assisting thousands of Victorians in cases over abuse as a child, believes the number of families who will reach out to them is ‘only going to grow’.
‘It is truly incomprehensible that someone in a position of trust and care could prey on the most innocent members of our community,’ principal lawyer Jodie Harris told Daily Mail Australia.
An updated list of times and places where Brown worked which is due to be released in the coming days, The Age reported.
Brown is accused of abusing eight children between the ages of two-months-old and five-years-old at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook, where he worked between October 2021 and February 2024.
The Melbourne childcare worker also worked at more than a dozen other centres across the city between 2017 and 2025.
It has since been suggested the advised STI tests were for gonorrhea and chlamydia. It was later suggested parents also have their children tested for syphilis.
A Werribee father who spoke out on Thursday, described how his seven-year-old daughter begged medical staff to stop as they administered an STI test.
‘My daughter was saying ‘Daddy, this is really hurting me, make the lady stop’,’ he told the Herald Sun.
‘You could visibly see the pathologist was upset, the receptionists were upset, the doctor was upset. Because they’re all parents. It’s affected everyone.’
Health authorities had to contact more than 2,600 families after Brown was taken into custody in mid-May, where he remains.
More than 2,600 families have been notified of the charges against Brown
1,200 children have been advised to undergo STI tests as a result of Brown’s actions
Brown is accused of abusing eight children between the ages of two-months-old and five-years-old at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook (pictured)
Police are working to comb through Brown’s employment history to identify more potential daycare centres where Brown may have worked before his arrest in mid-May.
‘We understand that many in the community are feeling concerned and anxious, however it is incredibly important that this information is confirmed, then thoroughly reviewed with other relevant agencies prior to any public release,’ a police statement said.
Brown’s Point Cook home was raided by police shortly after an investigation was launched earlier that same month.
Police have said he was not known to them before his arrest and he had a valid Working With Children Check, which has since been cancelled.
He will next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
*Name has been changed to protect her children’s identities.
