Melbourne childcare worker charged with over 70 child sex offences

Multiple families are being contacted by police after a former childcare centre employee was charged with more than 70 child sex assault-related offences.

On May 12, police arrested 26-year-old Point Cook man Joshua Brown.

Brown had worked at a number of childcare centres across Melbourne, police said.

He was charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual penetration of a child under 12, sexual assault of a child under 16, and production of child abuse material.

The charges relate to eight alleged victims police say were placed at a Point Cook childcare centre between April 2022 and January 2023.

Brown has remained in police custody since his arrest and will appear in court on September 15.

Police are continuing to investigate, including allegations of offences at a second childcare centre in Essendon.

Although Brown’s charges are linked only to a single child care centre, he worked at 20 such centres between January 2017 and May 2025, police say.

The families of the eight alleged victims have been notified, police say.

Police said families who had placed children at any of the centres on the list were being contacted to ensure they had appropriate support and welfare services.

There is no evidence at this time to suggest any other staff member at any centre is involved in this matter, investigators said.

“This is an incredibly distressing and confronting investigation for all involved and I know many members of the community will hear this news and feel enormously concerned,” Victoria Police Acting Commander Janet Stevenson said.

“We know there are potentially people out there who have information about this investigation that they wish to pass on to police. This may be people who had children at a centre where the man worked or staff who may have worked with him and noticed particular behaviours.”