A CHILD from a daycare centre where an alleged paedo is accused of carrying out dozens of sex attacks has reportedly contracted an STD.
In a shocking case that has unsettled Australia, 26-year-old Joshua Dale Brown faces charges of raping and abusing eight children ranging from five months to two years of age.
The child educator worked across 23 daycare centres in Victoria, sparking fears that he spread sexually transmitted diseases to the young children.
The parents of some 2,000 children have been urged by state authorities to test their kids for infections in the wake of his arrest.
According to Daily Mail Australia, one child at a Melbourne daycare where Brown worked has been confirmed to have contracted gonorrhoea.
While the Victorian government denied the claim, the Department of Health refused to reject the report.
A spokesman said: “Test results we’ve received to date as part of this investigation reaffirm that the risk is low.”
Tests are ongoing after the mass panic sparked by Brown’s arrest on July 1.
Cops did not reveal if Brown himself had tested positive for an STI but said the manner of the alleged abuse means children should get checked.
The alleged attacker worked at 23 centres over eight years from January 2017 to May 2025.
Police say he carried out the abuse on eight children between April 2022 and January 2023.
In addition to the 73 charges he already faces, including sexual penetration of minors, engaging in sexual activity in a child’s presence, and food contamination, more charges are anticipated.
He has also been charged with producing and transmitting child abuse material, and sexually touching a child under 16.
Brown appeared in court yesterday and will return in February after the magistrate approved a police request for an extension.
Horrified parents have questioned how Brown passed screening to work with children.
While he had a valid Working with Children Check, he was allegedly reported to state authorities two years ago for his behaviour, though it was unrelated to sexual misconduct.
In response, childcare operator G8 Education said they would accelerate the rollout of security cameras across 400 centres.
Brown was arrested after cops started investigating another man, Michael Simon Wilson, for the alleged rape of a teenage boy in a nearby area.
Detectives examining Wilson’s devices found material linking him to Brown and the two men are known to each other, sources told ABC.
Wilson has been hit with 45 charges including rape, bestiality and possessing child abuse material.
The pair are yet to enter a plea and it is unclear how they know each other.
However they have appeared together in a photo shared online by Brown’s partner.
Brown has employed top barrister Rishi Nathwani KC to his defence, who is trying to have his client’s charge sheets withheld from the media.
But Magistrate Donna Bakos told him they are already a matter of public record.
Cops say the majority of Brown’s offences took place at the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook.
