Brown was previously fired from at least three childcare centres but attracted little notice from regulators or employers who missed glaring errors on his resume. When police raided his home in May, he still had a valid Working With Children Check.
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Brown left the Williamstown centre run by Only About Children, where he is now charged with abusing children, just shy of finishing his probation period, and they did not give him a reference.
The two main childcare chains where Brown worked, Affinity and G8, have some of the poorest safety records in the industry, and this masthead has since revealed that safety complaints made at the centres where Brown worked were ignored by regulators.
Affinity in particular also led police investigating Brown on a wild goose chase by inadvertently handing over incorrect employment records – despite tracking their workers’ locations.
Police confirmed on Thursday that the employment history for Brown that is publicly available was now complete and accurate, but the investigation was ongoing.
Officers have also been investigating suspected further offending at an Affinity-owned Papilio centre in Essendon where Brown worked right before his arrest, and which this masthead revealed had been on a government watch list months earlier. But the new charges do not relate to that centre.
An Affinity spokeswoman said the childcare chain was deeply distressed by the further charges, which she said included an alleged incident involving one child at its Keilor centre, owned under the brand Aussie Kindies.
“No child or family should ever have to face this,” the spokeswoman said. “We are deeply sorry.”
Affinity also owns the affected Nino Early Learning Adventures in Point Cook (now a Papilio centre), though it was acquired in December 2024, after the time of Brown’s alleged offending there.
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The fresh charges now affect a third large childcare chain, Only About Children, which said on Thursday that it was devastated by the allegations.
A spokeswoman said the company was co-operating with authorities and was focused on supporting the children, families and staff affected, “and ensuring they have access to the information and assistance they need”.
In a statement, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she was “angry and distressed by these additional allegations”, as Victorian parents would be.
They had “broken the trust of Victorians, and they’ve broken my trust too,” she said. But she pointed to new childcare safety reforms, passed this week in parliament, including the creation of a new childcare regulator.
The new regulator “will have the authority to act swiftly and decisively … to immediately re-assess, refuse, suspend or revoke a WWCC when credible information is received”, Allan said.
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But three government sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, are concerned reforms will do little to address bigger systemic problems in the sector such as understaffing and for-profit business models that put company reputation ahead of safety.
They add to the worries voiced by families in the wake of the Brown revelations, including by Ruth*, who chose to speak publicly after her daughter was repeatedly raped at a family daycare centre in Melbourne’s west.
The childcare regulator declined to say whether it had investigated the centres affected. A spokesperson said it would consider the additional charges as part of its ongoing investigation into Brown.
In October, Affinity chief executive Tim Hickey and another top executive abruptly stepped down over recent safety scandals reported by this masthead.
On Thursday, new CEO Glen Hurley was at Affinity’s affected Keilor centre as staff and families were told of the new charges, and Affinity said external counselling was on offer.
The new charges
- Six counts of penetration of a child under 12
- Eight counts of producing child abuse material for use through a carriage service
- Twenty-three counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material
- Seven counts of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material
- Seven counts of using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self
- Two counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16
- Eight counts of sexual assault of a child under 16
- Two counts of attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12
- Two counts of recklessly causing injury
- Two counts of common law assault
- Twelve counts of bestiality
- Reckless conduct endangering serious injury
- Encouraging a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity
- Two counts of possessing drug of dependence
G8, which owns the Creative Gardens centre where Brown was first accused of offending, said it was horrified by the new charges.
In an ASX market update on Thursday, CEO Pejman Okhovat said G8 would continue to do everything in its power to give authorities the best chance of achieving justice for the children and families involved.
Brown is due to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on a total of 156 charges on February 10.
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Victorian opposition education spokesman Brad Rowswell said the distress, trauma and anguish of affected families would be felt across the entire state.
“This situation is every parent’s worst nightmare,” he said.
With Caroline Schelle
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