Australia: Hundreds of kids to be tested for disease after childcare rape charge

An Australian man has been charged with 70 offences, which police allege relate to eight children.

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Joshua Dale Brown was arrested in May and faces 70 charges, with police alleging he abused eight children - including a five-month-old - between April 2022 and January 2023.

The 26-year-old has worked at 20 childcare centres since 2017, prompting local health authorities to notify parents of any children who may have been in his care, recommending many be tested as a "precaution".

Joshua Brown is yet to enter a plea to the charges and has been remanded in custody. He is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court in September.

The eight children who police allege were harmed were all under the age of two and attended one childcare centre in a suburb of Melbourne.