Michael Simon Wilson: Vile threesome detail of alleged childcare rapist’s co-accused – and how he hid behind the nickname ‘Viper’

A Melbourne man accused of raping a child, which led police to alleged horrors at a childcare centre, was seeking couples on a dating website under the nickname ‘Viper’, Daily Mail Australia can reveal. 

Michael Simon Wilson, 36, was charged with 45 sex offences on Wednesday, including rape, bestiality and possession of child abuse material.

Wilson was previously active on an Australian dating website, posting on his profile under the pseudonym Viper15233 that he was ‘just out of (a) long relationship’ and ‘looking to get back out there’.

The profile on FlingFinder, a site for people looking for casual sexual encounters, featured Wilson posing in an orange work shirt and specified that he was ‘seeking couples’. 

He added that he was happy to join male-female couples or female-female couples. 

The 36-year-old, from Hoppers Crossing, allegedly raped a teenage boy on April 16, and while police were investigating that matter, they discovered evidence of alleged horrific offending by childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.

Brown, 26, from Point Cook in Melbourne’s southwest, is facing more than 70 charges including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety.

The latter charge refers to allegations that he added bodily fluids to children’s food.

It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson’s charges are not related to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims. 

Wilson is due to appear in court in September on the same day as Brown.

Brown’s alleged offending occurred during his time at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook, where he worked between October 2021 and February 2024. 

Although Brown was arrested on May 12, his identity and alleged crimes could not be published until police sought to have a court suppression order lifted on Tuesday.

Within a few hours, an alarming warning was issued by the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police, urging the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases.

The risk of transmission of STIs via food is low but is increased if a person has cuts or sores.

The charges against Brown have prompted the Victorian government to announce it will fast-track reforms to the childcare industry, including a ban on personal devices in childcare centres from September 26.

Premier Jacinta Allan said her government would also create a register of childcare workers ‘as soon as possible’ to provide families with ‘an extra layer of checks and balances’.

The government has also commissioned an urgent review into the childcare sector, which will take about six weeks.

Chief Health Officer Dr Christian McGrath said on Wednesday the testing was out of ‘an abundance of caution… (but) there’s not no risk, which is why we are making this recommendation’.

Brown worked at 20 childcare centres over an eight-year period between January 2017 and May 2025.

Police and health authorities have contacted 2,600 families of children who attended the centres in a bid to have them tested for unnamed diseases.

Brown has remained in custody since his arrest in mid-May. His Point Cook home was raided by police shortly after an investigation was launched earlier that same month.

He was not known to police before his arrest and had a valid Working With Children Check, which has since been cancelled.

Wilson is also being held in custody on remand. 

Brown and Wilson will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15.