Former educator gets life sentence for crimes against children in his care

Before continuing to engage with this piece readers should be aware that it discusses the abuse of children by an educator, and that the contents may prove distressing. A list of support services has been provided at the conclusion of the story. 

 

A former early childhood educator who abused nearly 70 children in his care in Queensland and Italy between 2003 and 2022 was sentenced by the Brisbane District Court to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 27 years, on Friday. 

 

The Gold Coast man, aged 46, pleaded guilty on 2 September, 2024 to 307 charges, including 15 counts of repeated sexual contact with a child, 28 counts of rape and 190 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 years of age.

 

The charges relate to 65 children he abused in Southeast Queensland and four in Italy.  

 

Extensive review

 

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested the man in August, 2022, following a painstaking investigation that started in 2014 when the Queensland Police Service (QPS) located 46 images and 10 videos the man had created and uploaded to the dark web.  

 

QPS, using the International Child Sexual Exploitation database, determined that the offences had taken place in a long day care setting in Australia, at which point in time AFP investigators started making enquiries.

 

Bedsheets visible in some of the exploitation material allowed investigators to narrow the search to Southeast Queensland as being the likely location of the service. 

 

On 18 August, 2022, the AFP confirmed that a Brisbane childcare centre was the location in the material after matching it to the bedsheets and other distinguishable features of the rooms in the background. 

 

On 19 August, 2022, enquiries at the service confirmed the identity of the man and within 24 hours a search warrant had been executed at a property linked to him in Brisbane’s southwest suburbs, where he was located and arrested. 

 

In the next 48 hours, the AFP executed two further search warrants, including at the man’s Gold Coast home, and seized electronic devices containing child abuse material created by the man that contained dozens of victims. 

 

As searches of the man’s digital material revealed the full scale of the offending – 64 victims in Queensland and four in Italy – the major focus of Operation Tenterfield became identifying the children and detailing every offence he had committed. 

 

In September 2022, the AFP coordinated a week-long joint-agency taskforce with QPS and the Department of Home Affairs at the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) to review nearly 4000 images and videos of child abuse material the man created.  

 

In August, 2023, after all Queensland victims had been identified and informed, the AFP announced the results of Operation Tenterfield, leading to the AFP receiving thousands of calls about this matter.  

 

Investigators from the Queensland Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) considered all information provided to the AFP in these phone calls.  

 

As a result of one of those phone calls, officers from the Queensland JACET charged the man with an additional offence.   

 

The new charge, which the man pleaded guilty to, relates to offences he committed between 2003 and 2004 at a Brisbane after-school care facility, where he was working as a volunteer and subsequently on a casual basis.   

 

Operation Tenterfield ongoing

 

AFP investigators continue to invite members of the public who may have had contact with the man to come forward and provide that information. 

 

Operation Tenterfield has not been finalised, so parents, ECEC professionals or anyone with information about this matter can still provide it to the AFP, where it will be carefully considered for the potential to identify more offending and add appropriate criminal charges. 

 

The AFP has also spoken to all Queensland ECEC services where the man has worked and thanks them for the information they have provided.

 

Operation Tenterfield has been complex and has involved highly skilled victim identification specialists. Up to 50 AFP members have been involved in the investigation since 2014. 

 

The AFP expressed thanks to QPS, the New South Wales Police Force and Department of Home Affairs for dedicating resources to the investigation. 

 

AFP Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said the AFP and other agencies had provided ongoing support to parents and children. 

 

“The AFP and our partners never gave up trying to identify the offender and the children in the abuse material,” Assistant Commissioner Gough said.  

 

“Given there were so many images and videos of children recorded over 15 years on the offender’s devices, the process of identification took time, skill and determination.” 

 

“While I am extremely proud of law enforcements’ persistence and their unwavering dedication to identify this offender, and stop further abuse; this has been a chilling investigation.”

 

“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.”

 

Support services available

 

“This is a distressing time for families, carers and the community broadly,” Assistant Commissioner Gough continued. 

 

“We know this type of news can re-traumatise survivors of sexual abuse, and, please, I urge those survivors to seek support, or talk to a trusted network, if today’s news has caused distress.” 

 

The AFP urges anyone in the community who needs to access support to visit the ACCCE website – for a full list of available support services with contact details. 

 

Members of the public who have information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or  report it to the ACCCE. If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 000. 

 

If you or someone you know are impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation there are support services available. 

 

Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protect children online can be found on the ThinkUKnow website, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.