Man accused of abusing 136 children at Sydney childcare centres

Hamish Tait has been charged with 329 offences after police identified 136 alleged child victims and traced his movements through 62 early childhood education facilities over a 16-year period. The 35-year-old from Glossodia in Sydney’s north-west could be named publicly only after a court lifted a non-publication order on 13 July 2026.

The Australian Federal Police launched Operation Moonbi in June 2025 after a report from the United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children flagged an online user uploading child abuse material. Police executed a search warrant at Tait’s Glossodia home on 20 June 2025, seized electronic devices and then progressed the case through a year-long investigation that included the review of 2.4 million electronic files and 12 search warrants.

Authorities allege the offending occurred between 2009 and 2025 at five facilities, four childcare centres and Tait’s own private early education business. The charges include 162 counts of producing child abuse material, 81 counts of filming a person engaged in a private act without consent, 24 counts of using a child under 14 years for the production of child abuse material, and additional counts of sexually touching children under 10.

More than 120 families have already been contacted, and the AFP has identified 136 victims while 22 alleged victims remain unidentified. Tait’s Working With Children accreditation was suspended when he was arrested and charged, and he has been remanded in custody since 10 July 2025. Police do not consider him a current threat to the community while the case remains before the courts.

NSW Health, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the NSW Early Learning Commission are working with police through a Local Contact Point set up to provide parents and carers with Tait’s employment history and support resources.