Karl Stefanovic clashes with woman calling for ALL male workers to be banned from childcare centres – after 26-year-old man charged with sickening offences shocks Australia

A call for men to be completely banned from working in childcare centres has ignited a fierce debate. 

The proposal comes after sex crime detectives charged two men with child abuse offences.

Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was accused of abusing eight children aged between five months and two years at one centre in Point Cook.

Brown has been charged with 70 offences, including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. The latter charge refers to alleged contamination of food with bodily fluids.

His arrest triggered a public health alert, with Victoria’s Chief Health Officer warning that 1,200 children should get STI testing.

Brown had worked at 20 childcare facilities since 2017.

On Wednesday, it emerged a second man, Michael Simon Wilson, 36, from Hoppers Crossing, had appeared in court on the same day as Brown, charged with child abuse material, sex offences and bestiality.

It is understood Michael Simon Wilson’s alleged offending was not connected to childcare facilities or against the same alleged victims as Joshua Dale Brown.

Louise Edmonds, who is leading the push to ban men, spoke with Karl Stefanovic, advocating for a complete ban on male workers in the sector.

‘Look, it is extreme for one. But the thing is, we’re now seeing this is the third case of huge amounts of children being exposed to alleged paedophiles and alleged child sex abuses in a childcare centre,’ Ms Edmonds said.

‘What we’re seeing is that less than eight per cent of male workers are actually in the industry.’

Stefanovic pushed back, highlighting the challenges already faced by men in the sector.

‘Men have a right to work in that area. And so many of them are dedicated,’ Stefanovic said.

‘The perception is already hard enough for them. And when a story like this happens, it makes it even more difficult for them.’

Ms Edmonds argued while there are ‘good men’ that want to be positive role models the safety of children must come before concerns about gender equality.

‘Without staining all the good men who are in there wanting to be positive role models for the young boys who are in day-care centres, there are some measures that can be taken,’ Ms Edmonds said. 

‘We shouldn’t be looking at the equality space in the sector. 

‘We actually have to look at the safety first and foremost of our most vulnerable citizens, which are our children, and a lot of them are voiceless.

‘So children start communicating well at around two years old. The children under two years old, they cannot speak.’

Stefanovic continued to push back highlighting the challenges already faced by men in the sector.

‘I get all that. But when you’re talking about inequality, banning men just for being men, that’s the very definition of it,’ Stefanovic said. 

But Ms Edmonds stood firm, citing statistics.

‘So the sad reality is there’s so much lived experience and evidence and data around child sex offenders, and 97 per cent of them are male,’ Ms Edmonds said. 

‘And this is a scary topic and a lot of people, we don’t want to talk about it because it’s so horrific when it comes to the abuse of children.’

As part of her proposal, Ms Edmonds suggested centres introduce a ‘child intimate care waiver’ which allows parents to either opt-in or opt-out of having a male carer. 

She also called for increased surveillance in childcare centres 

‘It takes seconds to abuse a child. I’m sorry to say that, but this is the reality. But what we can do with the CCTV, it is linked to a third party child protection agency.

‘It is a deterrent if you put it into the areas that are blind spots, like the sleeping quarters, the change tables and the toilets and it is off site, what happens is it deters predators.’