“Any form of child sexual abuse is confronting and horrifying, even more so when the alleged perpetrator is a person entrusted with the care of our youth,” said Australian Federal Police (AFP) Acting Commander Luke Needham.

Tait worked or attended 62 early childhood education centers in Sydney between 2009 and 2025, although police say he worked mainly in the city’s northwest.

The alleged crime occurred at five facilities, including four daycares and his own private business.

The police have published a website., external identifying the centers where he worked and offering support to families.

The charges also include 22 counts of aggravated use of a child under 14 years of age for the production of child abuse material and 18 counts of intentional sexual touching of a child under 10 years of age.

Police said they first linked Tait to illegal online activities in June last year. They then found child abuse material on electronic devices seized during a raid at a property in Glossodia, outside Sydney.

Australians have been shocked by a series of cases of alleged child abuse in nurseries in recent years.

They include the case of Ashley Paul Griffith, who in 2024 confessed to 307 crimes committed in childcare centers in Queensland and overseas over a 20-year period.

And last year, police urged more than 1,200 children in Victoria to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases after Joshua Dale Brown was charged with dozens of child abuse offenses allegedly committed at four daycares.