A childcare worker stands accused of being one of Australia’s worst paedophiles, with his alleged offences at dozens of childcare centres spanning more than 15 years.

The 35-year-old man is alleged to have created and transmitted child abuse material, impacting 158 victims, with 136 identified.

The victims were all pre-school or primary school-aged, with the alleged offences having occurred from 2009 to 2025 across 62 childcare centres the man worked at or attended.

The man was arrested and charged in July 2025 under Operation Moonbi after police seized almost 2.5 million files from electronic devices at his home and has been in custody.

He was initially charged with eight counts of online child abuse material offences on July 10, 2025. He was later charged with additional offences in April, June and July 2026, and now faces 329 offences in total.

Australian Federal Police Acting Commander Luke Needham said contact had been made with more than 121 families affected in Australia and overseas.

“The abuse of trust we alleged has occurred is devastating and will have lifelong ramifications for victims and their families,” he said on Monday.

“All I can say is we never gave up and we never will.”

He said the AFP had sought a non-publication order to “protect the integrity of the police investigation” and allow for a “comprehensive victim identification process”.

Needham said some of the material was shared overseas, with the majority of the man’s alleged industrial-scale offences taking place across dozens of centres in Sydney.

The AFP published a list of the charges he faces on Monday.

It includes 162 counts of producing child abuse material and 81 counts of filming a person engaged in a private act without consent.

Education Minister Jason Clare says work to weed out offenders in the childcare sector continues. Photo: AAP

Education Minister Jason Clare would not comment on the accused but vowed the federal government’s crackdown on the sector to weed out offenders would continue.

“I have been pretty blunt that not enough has been done in the past to keep our kids safe,” he said.

He pointed to the establishment of a National Early Childhood Worker Register, mandatory child safety training for educators and a national CCTV trial in centres as some of the safeguards implemented.

“This is not the end. It’s just the start. The terrible truth is this work will never end,” Clare said.

The case comes after the childcare sector underwent a national reckoning over widespread allegations of abuse and neglect.

The AFP also delayed revealing the identity of alleged Victorian offender Joshua Dale Brown, who was charged with sexually abusing eight children under the age of two.

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Lifeline 131 114

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

—AAP