“These charges are deeply concerning. Our current priority is to ensure full support is available to any students or staff impacted,” said a spokesperson on Monday night.
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“As this is an active police investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Victoria Police has been contacted for comment. It is not clear how many children are involved in the alleged offending or the number of charges laid.
These revelations come as Victoria awaits the public release of a Rapid Child Safety Review, commissioned following a different childcare scandal.
Former Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 offences, including sexually abusing eight children.
People who have experienced sexual abuse as a current or former student at a Victorian government school – or their parent/guardian – can report it to Victoria Police and to the Department of Education to access support and so that action can be taken.
Meanwhile, childcare giant Goodstart Education confirmed on Monday that it had sacked an educator and the director at one of its centres in the regional city of Ballarat after a lengthy investigation.
ABC News first reported the childcare worker was accused of sexually assaulting two children and allegations of grooming against a foster child, but that police had not been able to charge the man, citing insufficient evidence.
“Goodstart recently learned that no charges have been laid by police in relation to allegations of misconduct at our Mount Helen centre, after several months of investigation,” chief executive Ros Baxter said in a statement about the worker.
She said the company was “finally” cleared to start its own investigation into allegations of child harm, and hired an independent external investigator.
“Importantly, Goodstart terminated the employment of the staff member in question (after months of police and regulator investigations) when he was made a prohibited person by the regulator.”
The Mount Helen centre’s director was also sacked.
“Goodstart now knows that a centre director repeatedly failed in their obligations to report allegations made to them about this person. We terminated their employment for that failure.”
According to the company, the director had concerns about the worker in 2023 but reported them as a “concern about the family of a child in [the centre’s] care”.