A Sydney man has been accused of using his position as a childcare worker to produce child abuse material.
David William James, 26, has been charged with 13 offences, accused of abusing 10 boys aged between five and six when he worked at six out-of-school-hours care services in the northern suburbs of Sydney and the CBD between April 2021 and May 2024.
Police have been in contact with a further 52 out-of-school-hours care facilities and other providers where the man worked, but said there is no evidence to suggest any alleged offending took place at those centres.
In total, James worked at 58 locations between March 2018 and September 2024, with 44 of them in Sydney’s north, 11 in the inner city, one in the east, one in the south-west and one virtual holiday program.
The man has been charged with nine counts of aggravated use of child under 14 to make child abuse material, one count of use of a child under 14 to make child abuse material and two counts of possessing child abuse material.
Australian Federal Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Brett James said parents of the identified children have been notified.
“If you have not heard from the AFP, it’s because we have no evidence which has linked your family to this man’s offending,” Acting Assistant Commissioner James said.
“It’s important to note that this man remains in custody.”
Acting Assistant Commissioner James said police believe the man had the appropriate working with children checks.
Police raided the home of a 26-year-old man in Artarmon in Sydney’s lower north shore in September last year, seizing a mobile phone and other electronic devices.
Police allege the man refused to hand over his passwords and he was charged.
He was refused bail at Parramatta Local Court on September 25 last year and was later granted bail on September 30.
Forensic investigators eventually cracked into the man’s phones, computers and storage devices and allegedly found child abuse material.
“From this point on, our victim identification process began in earnest as investigators went through every image or video on his phones, his computers and his storage devices,” Acting Assistant Commissioner James said.
“In all, we had to examine 142,000 files on his devices, or 18.9 gigabytes.
“Not all of those were child abuse material, but it shows the effort it took to thoroughly go through every single file.”
The man was re-arrested on October 11 last year.
His name and where he worked has been under a non-publication order until today.
Police said the order was put in place to give police time to contact parents and carers.
The man was also employed as a probationary constable with the NSW Police Force (NSWPF) from December 2021 to September 2022.
He failed to complete his probation and continued in a civilian capacity until his resignation in May 2023.
“During his employment, the man failed to seek the required approval to engage in secondary employment, and as such, police were unaware of his concurrent role in the childcare sector,” NSW Police said in a statement.
“We acknowledge the seriousness of the allegations and condemn any behaviour that places our community’s most vulnerable members at risk.
“The NSWPF will continue to assist the AFP in its investigation and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all affected individuals.”
