Care worker's son abused children: court

A childcare worker's son sexually abused 11 young children hundreds of times, molesting up to two or three children a day while his mother was supposed to be caring for them in her home, a court has been told.

Melbourne's Whitehorse Council took three years to suspend the contract childcare worker after first receiving complaints about her son.

A20-year-old man, who cannot be named, has reserved his plea on 19 child sex offences allegedly committed on children aged between three and 10during an eight year period.

The alleged offences occurred in his mother's three rental properties from July 1996 until August 2004.

Police interviewed 67 families during their investigation and say the accused bribed children with Pokemon cards, gifts and offered one boy $2 for sex, according to the brief of evidence tendered to Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Around October 1999, the accused played hide and seek with an eight-year-old boy, lured him into the bathroom and had anal sex with him.

The same thing happened several times to the boy's younger brother, aged around six or seven, before his family moved away.

"He just says it happened every second day for almost the entire time he was in care, which is a long time," Detective Senior Constable Dave Bruce said in an interview with the accused.

"You were doing it ... to two or three kids every day."

Around December 2002, the accused - then aged 17 - asked a five-year-old girl to copy the oral sex he was watching on the pay TV pornography channel, which was on in his mother's lounge room.

"I just watched it for a little bit and she was just walking around," he told police.

"I don't know, (I) just said `how's about you do that?'"

Now aged 20, the accused told police he started drinking aged eight, was teased at school and was not an abuse victim himself.

He was a coach in a cricket program for children aged between five and 10 and said he had tried to join the police force.

The accused said he had no reason for abusing his victims.

"I wish I had a reason, but I just don't have a reason," he told police.

"Just `cos I was frustrated at school, drinking, you know, drugs and (it) all piled up into one - one stupid thing.

"I'm sorry for what I've put them through. I'm sorry about everything I've done.

"If I could take it, everything, all back, I would do it in a second."

The accused told police his mother was unaware what he was doing to the children.

The council received a complaint of a sexual nature against the son of the contracted childcare worker, about July 2001, according to the brief of evidence.

The woman complainant, who had two boys and a girl in care, told police the council promised to follow up her complaint but the family, who moved to regional Victoria six months later, heard nothing more.

There was another complaint from a different family about nine months later, but the council did not suspend the carer until August 17, 2004.

The carer's son was aged between 11 and 19when he allegedly abused six boys and five girls - including three siblings - all aged under 10 and most aged under eight.

The accused reserved his plea to 19 child sex charges, including sexual penetration with a child aged under 16 and committing an indecent act with a child aged under 16.

He indicated via his lawyer that he intended to plead guilty to the offences that occurred after he turned 15-years-old.

Magistrate John Hardy ordered him to stand trial in the County Court on February 8.