Alleged Sydney childcare paedophile continued work with children after report to regulator

“When the concerns were raised, JAG immediately took action, notifying NSW Police and the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian.”

However, while James was banned from JAG centres, he was able to keep working as a casual with Randstad because his Working with Children check was not affected.

“We are deeply disturbed by the allegations, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the children and families impacted by the alleged offending,” Randstad Education said in a statement on Friday.

“Screening of workers, including for the accused, is conducted in accordance with best practice in Child Safe recruitment principles.”

A person’s Working with Children check is only affected if “there is a sustained finding made … under the Reportable Conduct Scheme”, the Office of the Children’s Guardian says in its annual report. Reporting inappropriate conduct does not always prevent an individual from continuing to work with children.

The OCG can place an interim bar on working with children in some circumstances, which it didn’t do in the case of James.

The OCG has been contacted for comment.

The revelations that James continued to work in the sector come at a time of renewed focus on childcare and its regulation, after the arrest of Melbourne daycare worker Joshua Dale Brown and the screening of 1200 preschool-aged children for STDs.

Industry heads have also raised concerns about the OSHC sector, which is becoming increasingly privatised and reliant on an unqualified, young and casualised workforce.

The centres where James’ alleged abuse took place were Pyrmont OSHC – City of Sydney; OSHClub – Barker College; Willoughby Kids House; Helping Hands – St Ives Park Public School; St Ives OSHC Centre – Kidzone; and Helping Hands – Lane Cove West Public School.

On Friday, parents at Lane Cove West Public School expressed disbelief.

“The article popped up when I was at work, and I just could not concentrate after that,” said Renee, who has a five-year-old daughter at the school and did not want her surname used.

She said OSHC provider Helping Hands has circulated a letter to parents, assuring them that they are taking the matter seriously, and that staff members are now banned from having phones while children are in their care.

“They said that Working With Children checks were comprehensive, but they’re obviously not comprehensive enough,” Renee said.

One parent, who works as a teacher at a different school, said his two children had been coming to Helping Hands for several years. He did not remember James.

“It’s a travesty, an abomination really,” he said.

“They’ve got lots of safeguards in place, but it’s scary to think someone like that worked here while my kids were there.”

At Friday afternoon pick-up at St Ives Park Primary School, parents said the school had informed them about the allegations against James several weeks ago.

One mother, who did not want to be named, said her children had attended the centre while James worked there, but she did not remember him.

She had her own concerns about the OSHC facility, and once withdrew her children from holiday care when she found the three staff members on duty were all male and appeared to be inexperienced.

“What I saw, I didn’t like,” she said, adding she planned to raise her concerns in a formal letter.

A graduate of the elite Knox Grammar School and featuring on the Herald’s HSC High Achiever list in 2017, James worked for NSW Police in an entry-level role as a probationary constable at Chatswood Police Station from December 2021 to September 2022. After failing to complete his probation, he worked as a radio officer in civilian capacity until his resignation in May 2023.

James was identified by the Australian Federal Police in a mid-2024 investigation into dark web child abuse material.

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He is now facing 13 charges, including nine counts of aggravated use of a child to make child abuse material, one count of using a child to make abuse material, two counts of possessing abuse material and one count of refusing officers access to his phone.

The specifics of the allegations are mostly too graphic to publish, but include claims the man filmed young boys as they used the bathroom at the daycare.

James also allegedly pleasured himself in a classroom in front of children.

Until his arrest, he lived at his family home on Sydney’s lower north shore.

All families of his alleged victims were contacted by investigators in June with letters. More than 1200 other families, whose children attended the services at which James worked, also received a letter outlining that a staff member had been charged.

“Based on information currently available, investigators believe the alleged behaviour of the man involves a very small number of children, however, the parents and carers of any child who may have had contact with the man has received a letter,” the AFP said in a statement.

The nation’s childcare industry has been in crisis since the arrest of Joshua Dale Brown in Melbourne on allegations he abused eight children. The case is unrelated to James’ alleged offending in Sydney.

Brown is facing 73 charges, including child rape, after the alleged discovery of a cache of child abuse material in May.

If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au), 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.

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