In Australia, childcare worker faces over 1,600 child sex charges

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) — A former childcare worker in Australia is facing charges related to 1,623 child abuse offenses involving 91 children, police disclosed on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old man from the eastern city of Gold Coast was accused of 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10, daily ABC News reported.

He has been held in custody since August 2022 in Queensland after federal police arrested and charged him with two counts of producing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service for child abuse material.

Federal police Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said the man recorded all his alleged offenses using his phone and cameras.

"We allege the 45-year-old man from the Gold Coast recorded all his alleged offending on his phone and cameras. The AFP (Australian Federal Police) is highly confident that all 87 Australian children who were recorded in the alleged child abuse material have been identified," Gough told in a press briefing.

"The Australian children recorded in the alleged child abuse material have been informed of the investigation. Some of the individuals identified in the alleged child abuse material are now aged 18 years and have been informed," she said.

She further added that more than 4,000 photos and videos that the man had recorded on his phone were sent for review by the police.

New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald emphasized that the charges against the man carry a potential life sentence.

He allegedly committed the offenses in Brisbane, located in Queensland, Sydney in New South Wales, and abroad.

After dealing with the AFP charges in Queensland, authorities plan to seek his extradition back to New South Wales to face the charges there.

The man's case is set for a mention in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Aug. 21.