A former Australian daycare worker has been charged with over 1,600 offenses after allegedly sexually abusing 91 children, filming the abuse, and then disseminating the video information online.
Police say that the man preyed on young girls at a dozen facilities in Australia and abroad over a 15-year period.
He was apprehended in August 2022, but it took police a year to investigate and find potential victims.
Authorities describe the case as one of the most “horrific” they have ever encountered.
The 45-year-old man is charged with 246 charges of rape and 673 counts of indecent assault on children, many of which occurred under aggravating circumstances.
The most serious charges are punishable by life in prison.
He is also facing a slew of allegations for filming and disseminating child molesting images. Police claim he videotaped all of his torture and discovered 4000 photographs and videos on his computer devices.
The alleged crimes took place in ten childcare centers in Queensland, one in New South Wales, and one in an unknown foreign country. The individual worked at other daycare facilities, but the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is “highly confident” he did not commit any crimes there.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough told the media on Tuesday that the case would be “deeply distressing” for the community.
“What this person did to these children is beyond anyone’s comprehension.”
“You try not to be shocked after being in the police for so long… but this is a horrific case,” she remarked.
The 87 Australian children who were allegedly abused have been identified, and their families have been notified.
Authorities in Australia are now collaborating with their foreign counterparts to locate the remaining four suspected victims.
Investigators claim they apprehended the man after identifying a backdrop image in child abuse material as one of the childcare centers he worked at.
On 20 August 2022, the AFP conducted a search warrant at the Brisbane centre before inspecting the man’s Gold Coast house and seized electronic equipment reportedly holding child abuse content he had generated.
He had previously been reported to Queensland police in 2021 and 2022, but investigators found insufficient evidence to act, according to authorities.
The man, who has yet to be identified, is scheduled to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 21.
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