A childcare worker claims she had told police about the man is facing a horrifying number of child sex offence charges months before he was arrested, but they did nothing.
A 45-year-old Gold Coast man was officially charged this week after he allegedly raped and abused 91 girls in childcare centres for 15 years without detection.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly able to commit more than 1600 offences at 10 Brisbane childcare centres, as well as at one centre in NSW and another overseas.
His alleged offending included 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.
He was arrested in August 2022 after police were able to identify objects in the background of the childcare centres in the videos and photographs he had allegedly made.
Speaking to A Current Affair, Yolanda Boruki said she was managing a chain of childcare centres where the man was employed in 2021.
Ms Boruki said the man was “very close” to the children and families.
“To some of the families, he was actually invited as part of the family,” she said.
Ms Boruki explained she had reported the man to police after her colleague submitted a written notification which claimed she’d seen the man kissing a young girl in the playground.
“They [had] been placing a few mats under the fort when the children been climbing and when they decided they want to have a little nap they will be able to lie down under the fort [sic],” she told A Current Affair in an exclusive interview on Friday.
The other staff member saw the man allegedly kneeling over one sleeping girl and “kissing” her in October 2021.
However, police concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to execute a warrant on the man’s property and the investigation was closed.
“They investigated and (said) he’s fine,” Ms Boruki said.
“His explanation was … he wasn’t kissing the girl, he was just whispering to her to not sleep too long.”
Ms Boruki said she was left feeling uneasy after the police investigation found there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute.
However, she shad to follow HR directions and allow the man to continue working at the centre.
“From the very beginning, (I felt something) is not right here, there was something in my gut feeling,” she said.
“But I can’t act, the police are telling me it is fine.”
Ms Boruki told A Current Affair she had been made redundant on Monday, one day before the AFP announced to the public that the man had been charged.
She said she was “devastated” to hear the news of the charges, especially after she’d allegedly received abuse from parents who accused her of lying about the man’s actions.
“I received a number of emails claiming I’m the worst person under the sun because I tried to get rid (the man) who is absolutely the godsend,” Ms Boruki said.
Once the childcare centre was notified of the allegations, she said she was unable to reach out to parents to keep them informed.
“What was the hardest part was any communication (the police) would not allow us to send to the parents because of the investigation,” she said.
“They said because of the sake of individual parents first, they need to be contacted by police.”
The AFP told A Current Affair it is re-examining its investigation but could not comment further as the matter was now before the court.
Child abuse charges
“In my head, it was always: ‘How many children will be saved? How many would not go through the trauma?’” Ms Boruki said.
The childcare worker was arrested on August 20, 2022, with detectives initially charging him with making and distributing child-abuse material.
Victim identification experts were able to identify 87 little girls allegedly abused by the man in Australia.
Over the following months, the AFP and QPS detectives combed through nearly 4000 images allegedly found on the man’s phone and other electronic devices.