Families of childcare worker's alleged victims seek legal action

Parents of some of the children allegedly subjected to horrific sexual abuse by a childcare worker arrested on Tuesday have engaged lawyers to explore their legal options.

Slater and Gordon said in a statement multiple families caught up in the offending had already engaged their law firm.

The former childcare worker allegedly filmed the rape and abuse and uploaded the “chilling” child abuse material to the dark web; his alleged offending included 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.

The man has been charged with 1623 abuse offences. All the children allegedly offended against were pre-pubescent girls and some of the alleged victims are now aged over 18.

Police said they are “highly confident” all 87 Australian children who were recorded in the alleged child abuse material have been identified.

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Abuse law expert Tiffany Marsh, from Slater and Gordon, said some of the childcare centres where the man worked could be held vicariously liable for any harm the children suffered under their care.

Although some children may have been too young when the alleged offending occurred to remember what happened, they may be triggered later in life and suffer devastating consequences, Marsh said.

“It is well known that many survivors of childhood sexual abuse do not remember or disclose the abuse until years later, and in some cases decades,” she said.

Parents of the alleged victims may also be able to pursue a claim of nervous shock, Marsh said.

“Abuse can have a devastating impact on the lives of not only those who have suffered it, but also those whose loved ones have been subjected to such ghastly treatment, by people who had been entrusted to look after them, which is why under the law, they may be entitled to compensation as well,” she said.