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Fresh details have emerged of the case against accused childcare paedophile Joshua Brown, including charges he contaminated milk, recklessly endangering a baby in his care.
Brown’s lawyer had been fighting in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week to stop the release of the full 156 charges now facing the accused paedophile, as he discusses a “resolution” to his criminal case with the prosecution.
In December, police revealed the scope of the 27-year-old’s alleged offending had expanded to four childcare centres across Melbourne, with 12 alleged victims identified so far as investigations continue.
Details of the extra 83 charges were released to the media on Wednesday afternoon. Among them are multiple new counts of child rape as well as of assault and possessing the drugs MDMA and ketamine. Brown is accused in December 2022 of providing milk he had contaminated to a baby, recklessly endangering the child.
Brown was due to appear in court this week for the first time in more than six months, but his case was adjourned for another two months given the “volume” of evidence.
The discovery of a cache of child abuse material allegedly linked to Brown in May 2025 sparked an urgent police investigation and plunged Australia’s childcare sector into crisis as it emerged Brown had worked at 24 centres across Melbourne over more than eight years.
Brown is now accused of abusing children from his very first job in the sector, but much of the offending relates to his time at the Point Cook daycare Creative Garden where his offending was first discovered.
Brown’s lawyer had been fighting in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week to stop the release of the full 156 charges.
There, police allege he sent child abuse material to another man and recorded himself contaminating children’s food with bodily fluids, which prompted unprecedented STI testing for kids at affected centres. The latest charges reveal that Brown allegedly sent child abuse material up until the day of his arrest in May last year.
Separately, Brown is facing charges of bestiality, not related to childcare.
During a hearing this week, Brown’s defence barrister Rishi Nathwani, KC, had argued releasing the full charges against his client could endanger Brown, who remains on remand in custody, as well as his family.
“We’re now at the stage of discussing resolution,” Nathwani added, of a potential deal with prosecutors.
But magistrate Donna Bakos said the charges were a matter of public record, and granted their release.
While police took the rare step of naming Brown in July when they revealed the case against him, given its scale, the names of child complainants and their families were redacted in documents released to the media, and will be protected by pseudonyms at trial.
As well as the Point Cook centre, Brown is accused of offending at three other facilities: Nino in Point Cook on March 26, 2019; Only About Children in Williamstown on December 1, 2020, and February 22, 2021; and Aussie Kindies Early Learning Centre in Keilor between February 3 and 11 last year.
Bakos ordered Brown to return to court on April 21.
Sherryn Groch is a journalist at The Age covering crime. Email her at s.groch@nine.com.au or contact her securely on Signal @SherrynG.70Connect via X or email.
Carla Jaeger is a journalist for The Age. Got a tip? Email carla.jaeger@theage.com.au or message carlajaeger.62 on Signal.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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