Parents say they were ‘left in the dark’ about inappropriate conduct by Sydney educator 

Before continuing to read this piece readers of The Sector should note it covers sexual touching of a child under the age of 10 years, and should consider their own circumstances and wellbeing before engaging. 

A group of parents have expressed their concerns about a lack of transparency and communication following instances of inappropriate touching of children by a male educator in a Sydney long day care centre last year. 

The parents further allege that the service knew about the inappropriate behaviour of the educator for eight days before the worker was stood down, approaching the media after feeling their concerns had not been appropriately addressed. 

One parent claims it took the centre three to four weeks to provide her with a roster showing when her children had been in the same room as the man, something she said was ‘awful.’

“I lost so much sleep over it because you feel like you have failed as a parent and that’s the worst thing,” she shared with 9 News.

The educator at the centre of the concerns has pled guilty to one incident which took place at the centre in September last year, with multiple parents coming forward to express concern that they still lack clarity about whether or not their child was in the presence of the educator, or why the educator was still allowed to be around children when multiple reports from coworkers had noted inappropriate conduct. 

According to court documents a colleague reported the educator to management after witnessing him tickling a child in the region of their groin and rubbing his bottom. While the provider communicated to the parents of the child victim, parents of other children in the educator’s care say they did not receive any further information about the man’s conduct with their children.

The court documents also reveal that the man had been reported to management three times, with colleagues expressing concern about the man kissing children, holding them in his lap, and hugging them through the course of his casual work with the provider across multiple services in its network since 2022. 

In a witness statement the man’s colleague described his behaviour towards mainly male children as concerning, saying he often kissed them and changed their nappies when he had been instructed not to.

During proceedings police further alleged that the service knew about the prosecuted incident for eight days before standing the man down and notifying the authorities. 

Child Abuse Squad detective superintendent Linda Howlett noted that it is a criminal offence not to report child sex abuse allegations to police, saying “mandatory reporting is an obligation by people who work with children either professionally employed or as a volunteer. I would advise people not to report to the childcare centre and to contact the police directly.”

The man was arrested one month after the offence and has since been granted bail. He will be sentenced next month.

In a statement (full transcript below), the provider apologised to parents and said it was working with authorities to respond to the matter.

“We acknowledge and apologise fully for the distress that this matter has caused the families at this Centre, and we are determined to learn the lessons from this situation and continue to improve our processes and systems.

The health, safety and wellbeing of every child in our care remains our highest priority.

We are continuing to work with the authorities to respond to this matter, as it remains an open legal and regulatory process.”

Access the 9 News coverage of this story here.