A New South Wales childcare worker employed by Affinity Education who pleaded not guilty to nine child sexual abuse offences last year appeared before a regional court on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old NSW man was charged in October for allegedly sexually abusing children at a childcare centre owned by Affinity Education in a small NSW town.
The man, who can’t be named due to risks it could identify the alleged victims, was charged with eight counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10 years and one count of carrying out a sexual act with another without consent.
NSW police said in a statement at the time the man was charged that there were eight alleged victims.
The man pleaded not guilty to the charges last October. He had his matter appear for a mention before the regional court on Wednesday, and is due to appear again on 23 July. A hearing date has not yet been set.
He is on bail with conditions that include not being allowed to go near childcare centres or schools and reporting to police once a week.
Affinity Education is one of the largest for-profit businesses in Australia that runs childcare centres, and operates about 100 centres in NSW alone, according to its website.
A company spokesperson said in a statement that it had provided its full cooperation with police during the investigation.
“Affinity Education took these allegations extremely seriously when they were raised and reported them to the appropriate authorities,” the spokesperson said.
“As the matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
On Wednesday, Affinity Education announced a series of changes to its security measures.
This included fast tracking the installation of CCTV cameras across centres and rectifying blind spots. It will issue refresher training, and seek parental preferences for which staff member assists children with toileting and children’s nappies.
It noted that since 2023 personal devices have been banned in rooms while working with children, and that it would now roll out lockboxes for devices after successful trials in NSW.
It comes after the federal government announced it would fast-track legislation in the next sitting week to cut funding to childcare centres that fail to meet safety standards.
The Victorian government has also ordered an urgent review of childcare safety.
