DIKSIA.COM - A former childcare worker in Australia is facing a staggering number of charges for sexually abusing 91 girls, some as young as three years old, at various childcare centers in Australia and abroad.
The 45-year-old man from Queensland allegedly committed 1,623 offenses, including 136 counts of rape, 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and 613 counts of producing child exploitation material, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on Tuesday .
The man, who passed the required background checks for his job, is accused of filming himself while abusing his victims at 12 different childcare centers in Sydney, Brisbane and overseas between 2007 and 2022.
Police said they have identified all 87 Australian children who appeared in the videos and are working with international authorities to identify four more children who were abused overseas.
The man was arrested and charged with several child exploitation offenses in August 2022 and has been in custody since then. He has not been named to protect the identity of his victims. He is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 21.
The AFP said the case was one of the worst child sex abuse cases in the country's history and the result of a nine-year investigation that began when they discovered a collection of child exploitation images and videos on the dark web in 2014.
“This is chilling news,” AFP Northern Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said. “It is with a heavy heart that the AFP and other law enforcement dedicate so much time and resources to prevent and take action against individuals who commit heinous crimes against children.”
New South Wales state police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the case was “one of the most horrific cases of alleged child abuse our detectives have seen”.
“We are absolutely committed to prosecuting anyone who goes after our community's most vulnerable,” Fitzgerald said.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCY
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