A grief-stricken father has described the harrowing STI test his young daughter had to endure after she was exposed to an alleged paedophile at a daycare centre.
Melbourne 26-year-old Joshua Dale Brown has been charged with more than 70 child sex offences including the sexual penetration of a child and producing child abuse material.
He was 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.
The charges centre on Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook, where the accused worked between October 2021 and February 2024, though he also worked at more than a dozen other centres across Melbourne between 2017 and 2025.
On Tuesday, the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police urged the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal more than a dozen 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 news follows a Werribee father who spoke out on Thursday to describe how his seven-year-old daughter begged medical staff to stop as they administered an STI test.
Parents of children who attended Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook are considering legal action after Joshua Brown (pictured) was charged with 70 child sex offences
Authorities urged the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases on Tuesday
The Werribee father said both children and medical staff should never have had to go through such a traumatic process.
‘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,’ he said.
All the parents involved have to wait an unknown amount of time to discover whether their children have any STIs.
‘It’s every bit as bad as you think it’s going to be. Every time my phone rings … I get anxiety, every time it rings. It’s constantly attached to my hand as we’re waiting for that phone call.’
Normal pathology tests return results within 48 hours but because these tests are part of a criminal investigation it is unclear how long it will for results to arrive.
Health authorities had to contact more than 2,600 families after Brown was taken into custody. He had also begun working at Essendon Papilio Early Learning in the city’s north on February 17 and was employed until just a few days before his arrest in May.
Beginning Thursday regular updates are expected to become available online as investigators continue to trace the dates Brown worked between childcare centres.
Parents described the distress they felt after finding out about the allegations on the news
A spokesperson for Thomas and Becker Lawyers, which is assisting thousands of Victorians in cases over abuse as a child, said they think the number of families who will reach out to them about this is ‘only going to grow’.
‘We have already been contacted by a number of families who have been impacted by these shocking events,’ principal lawyer Jodie Harris told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Our thoughts are with the families affected, who are no doubt reeling from the shock and heartbreak of this news.
‘It is truly incomprehensible that someone in a position of trust and care could prey on the most innocent members of our community.’
She said that, while criminal proceedings are underway, families may have civil rights that entitle them to pursue compensation action.
‘This includes the potential to seek compensation for injury.
‘This could include medical expenses and potentially lump sum compensation.’
Ms Harris added that it ‘could be applicable for the impacted children and parents’.
Brown (pictured) was not known to police before he was arrested earlier this year
He has been in custody since mid-May and will front Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15
Civil claims can allow victims and family members to recover compensation for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, financial loss, including superannuation and treatment expense.
Ms Harris said that this civil compensation can sometimes be in the millions.
Given the number of childcare centres the alleged offender worked across, Arnold Thomas and Becker is looking into the potential for a class action suit.
But the firm said individual claims in this case may be a more appropriate avenue for the families impacted. Both options are being explored.
Brown worked at a total of 20 childcare centres over an eight-year period between January 2017 and May 2025.
Father of three, Satbir told AAP he went to the Point Cook childcare centre on Wednesday after recognising the alleged offender on the news.
‘I dropped off my child into his hands a couple of times,’ he said.
‘I’m a bit worried, I (need) to find out everything. I’ve seen him in the classroom where I dropped my children.’
Investigators have said they will publish updates concerning any extra information discovered about Brown’s work at childcare centres around the city
Another parent of a child who attended the Point Cook centre from 2021 to 2023, who declined to give their name, received a generic response from authorities and later found the same information in the news.
‘There’s a lot of stress, it’s very distressing so I needed to come and get some details,’ he said.
Further families may yet hear from authorities regarding the charges as investigators work to determine how early Brown had begun working at the daycare centres.
Payroll information from Papilio Early Learning revealed Brown had been working at the centre on December 13, reports The Age.
The publication also reported some parents recalling Brown working at Papilio as early as August 2024.
These claims would mean any parents whose children came into contact with the alleged peadophile prior to February 17 are yet to receive an official notification from authorities about Brown’s charges.
He has remained in custody since his arrest in mid-May and his Point Cook home was raided by police shortly after an investigation was launched earlier that same month.
Brown was not known to police before his arrest and had a valid Working With Children Check, which has since been cancelled.
He will next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15.
Police discovered evidence of the alleged horrific offending by the childcare worker while investigating 36-year-old Michael Simon Wilson.
Wilson, from Hoppers Crossing, was charged with 45 child sex offences on Wednesday, including bestiality, rape and possession of child abuse material, according to court documents.
It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson’s charges are not related to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
