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<\/p>\nIt is every parent\u2019s worst nightmare: trusting a childcare centre to keep your child safe, only to receive a knock on the door years later from the Australian Federal Police.<\/p>\n
For Sydney mother Nicki*, that nightmare became a reality when officers told her that her young son was an alleged victim of 35-year-old former educator Hamish Tait \u2013 who is accused of being one of Australia\u2019s worst child predators.<\/p>\n
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Tait was arrested by the Australian Federal Police a year ago and is facing 329 charges for allegedly abusing more than 130 children over 16 years across childcare centres he worked at.\u00a0A Current Affair<\/p>\n
Tait was arrested by the Australian Federal Police a year ago and is facing 329 charges for allegedly abusing more than 130 children over 16 years across childcare centres he worked at.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was actually my son\u2019s favourite teacher, which is the most heartbreaking thing,\u201d Nicki said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel guilty as a mum that I put him in that position at that daycare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicki\u2019s son attended FitKidz in Sydney, where Tait worked as a casual, between 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n
She remembered picking up her son in the afternoon and seeing Tait reading a book with him in his lap. Five years later, the AFP knocked on her door to ask about her son\u2019s time\u00a0at the centre and his interactions with Tait.<\/p>\n
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Mel and Mick Scaife, owners of FitKidz Learning Centres, spoke out about the long-term employee who worked across all 10 of their centres.\u00a0A Current Affair<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me that he was charged with child abuse material. And my son was one of his victims,\u201d Nicki said.<\/p>\n
Police told Nicki there was no evidence of physical abuse against her son, but photos of him had allegedly been taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really hard. It\u2019s gut-wrenching,\u201d Nicki said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t asked my son a single question. I don\u2019t want him to know, because they look at their educators like they\u2019re everything to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tait first came to the attention of the AFP in June 2025 following a referral from a partner agency in the US, after he allegedly uploaded child abuse material to a cloud server.<\/p>\n
Within 24 hours, the AFP executed a search warrant at his residence in Glossodia, in north-west Sydney, seizing 25 electronic devices and uncovering 2.4 million files.<\/p>\n
Mel and Mick Scaife, owners of FitKidz Learning Centres, spoke out about the long-term employee who worked across all 10 of their centres.<\/p>\n
Mel said Tait was the educator she chose to put her own children with.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was thoroughly vetted at the beginning of his time with us,\u201d Mel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only complaints we ever got about this individual was people frustrated when they didn\u2019t have him as a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Tait\u2019s initial arrest on 13 charges, legal suppression orders prevented the owners from speaking out. Once lifted, they immediately emailed 6500 families.<\/p>\n
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Hamish Tait has been charged with 329 offences.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel everything from profound sadness to guilt to anger, so angry,\u201d Mel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have anything to hide and so we\u2019d welcome any sort of investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple also confirmed Tait met his wife at FitKidz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Addressing potential criticism about keeping her employed, Mel said: \u201cThere\u2019s the smart thing to do which is probably to encourage her to take some time away, and then maybe there\u2019s the right thing to do which is to get around her and to not cut out on someone who needs us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police allege Tait worked at or attended more than 55 childhood education facilities, mostly in Sydney\u2019s north-west between 2009 and 2025, allegedly committing offences at five facilities, including his own bush school business, Wild Earthlings.<\/p>\n
Investigations revealed Tait sent emails from his personal address inviting children to park reunions and allegedly offered to babysit outside of daycare hours.<\/p>\n
The AFP has told media it identified alleged victims in a remote Indigenous community in South Australia where Tait volunteered.<\/p>\n
Von Hosking, who runs the Brisbane-based advocacy group For Parents, said the case highlights broader systemic issues following other high-profile cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not one crack in the system,\u201d Hosking said, adding that $16 billion of taxpayer money goes into the childcare system, with 85 per cent directed to centre-based care.<\/p>\n
She wants the child care subsidy to be expanded to give parents options to get out of that system, criticising the lack of direct response from the prime minister or early education minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe silence is very, very loud,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Despite the heartbreak, Nicki felt it was essential to share her experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the children deserve justice,\u201d Nicki said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m angry and I\u2019m hurt and I\u2019m trying not to cry right now… I have to keep going for my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
*A Current Affair cannot legally identify the mother, so has used \u201cNicki\u201d as a pseudonym for the purpose of this story.<\/p>\n