{"id":12181,"date":"2025-07-22T01:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/12181\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T01:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:19:12","slug":"childcare-director-who-employed-convicted-child-sex-offender-husband-as-gardener-sacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/12181\/","title":{"rendered":"Childcare director who employed convicted child sex offender husband as gardener sacked"},"content":{"rendered":"

A childcare centre director who employed her convicted child sex offender husband to do maintenance and gardening has been sacked.<\/p>\n

Sexual assault\u00a0support lines:1800 Respect National Helpline<\/a>: 1800 737 732Lifeline<\/a> (24-hour crisis line): 131 114Full Stop Australia<\/a>: 1800 385 578Bravehearts<\/a>: counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800\u00a0272\u00a0831Child Wise<\/a>: counselling provider: 1800\u00a0991\u00a0099<\/p>\n

Andrew William Vassel, 45, was last week fined in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court <\/a>for breaching protection reporting obligations by failing to tell authorities about the work he was doing at the south-east Queensland centre.<\/p>\n

His wife, Amanda Louise Vassel, was stood down from her position at Beenleigh Montessori Early Learning Centre and has now been fired.<\/p>\n

Since the revelation came to light, one parent has withdrawn their two children from the centre.<\/p>\n

Approximately 50 children attend the centre in Logan, south of Brisbane.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The court heard on Thursday the convicted child sex offender, who was previously subject to reporting conditions, had also dressed up as Santa at a Christmas party some years ago, although he said he did not “recall” having done so.<\/p>\n

There is no allegation he offended against children at the centre.<\/p>\n

Queensland police last week said Ms Vassel had also been charged in relation to the incident.<\/p>\n

Ms Vassel has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Conviction recorded\"a<\/p>\n

The director of the Beenleigh Montessori Early Learning Centre in Logan had hired her husband, a convicted sex offender, to do maintenance at the facility. (ABC News: Ben Cocklin)<\/p>\n

Vassel appeared before the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Thursday last week, where he pleaded guilty to two charges in relation to his employment at the centre.<\/p>\n

New South Wales court records show Vassel faced trial in 2007 and was convicted on two child sex abuse offences. He spent eight months in prison.<\/p>\n

The court heard he had been a reportable offender for a 15-year period from 2008.<\/p>\n

\"outside<\/p>\n

There is no allegation Vassel offended against children at the centre. (ABC News: Ben Cocklin)<\/p>\n

Police in June had received a tip-off that Vassel, who the court heard was also a landscaper for Brisbane City Council, was working at the centre.<\/p>\n

The court heard he had told police he did not think he needed a Blue Card because he was only working outside of centre opening hours.<\/p>\n

However, the court heard witnesses told police they recalled Vassel dressing as Santa at a Christmas party.<\/p>\n

His lawyer, Rachel Carson, told the court Vassel had memory recall issues and “doesn’t specifically recall” playing Santa, however “accepts the version of three witnesses”.<\/p>\n

He was fined $1,000 for each breach.<\/p>\n

Centre owner ‘shocked’ and ‘saddened’\"basketball<\/p>\n

The Beenleigh Montessori owner has said they were unaware of Vassel’s criminal history. (ABC News: Ben Cocklin)<\/p>\n

In a statement released last week, the Beenleigh Montessori owner said they had been aware Vassel did not hold a Blue Card but had not been aware of his criminal history.<\/p>\n

“I was horrified to learn of his criminal history prior to his engagement at the Beenleigh centre,” the statement read.<\/p>\n

They said they were deeply saddened by the circumstances and apologised to all affected staff and parents.<\/p>\n

Vassel had been employed at the centre as a contractor, and at the time of his court appearance, had not done work at the facility for more than a month.<\/p>\n

\"basketball<\/p>\n

The matter remains under investigation. (ABC News: Ben Cocklin)<\/p>\n

Authorities investigating<\/p>\n

A Queensland Department of Education spokeswoman said on Friday the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (ECRA) would be investigating the matter.<\/p>\n

“[The ECRA] is aware of this matter and will be undertaking an investigation, working closely with the Queensland Police Service,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Approved providers have clear responsibilities under the legislation regarding who may and may not be at the service premises when care is being provided to children.”<\/p>\n

Queensland police have been contacted for further comment.<\/p>\n

\"outside<\/p>\n

One parent has withdrawn their two children from the centre since the allegations came to light. (ABC News: Ben Cocklin)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A childcare centre director who employed her convicted child sex offender husband to do maintenance and gardening has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4111,64,63,4107,14006,14005,14001,4109,14008,14009,14004,10235,14003,673,44,94,701,14002,14007],"class_list":["post-12181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-andrew-william-vassel","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beenleigh-magistrates-court","tag-blue-card","tag-brisbane-city-council","tag-child-care","tag-child-sex-abuse","tag-christmas-party","tag-contractor","tag-conviction","tag-gardening","tag-maintenance","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-queensland-department-of-education","tag-santa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}