Australia’s most prolific alleged daycare abuser hit with 115 new charges

One of Australia’s most prolific alleged daycare abusers has been hit with 115 further charges over his alleged abuse of more than 150 children at Sydney early childhood centres, bringing the total number of charges against the man to 444.

Hamish Alexander Edward Tait, 35, was on Friday charged with 105 counts of producing child abuse material, carrying out a sexual act with a child under 10, five counts of filming a person in private with circumstances of aggravation, and four counts of possessing child abuse material. He has been behind bars since being arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in July 2025.

Tait came into the crosshairs of authorities after allegedly uploading a recording of child abuse to a cloud server, sparking investigators’ eventual seizure of 2.5 million files across a number of electronic devices, following a raid of his Glossodia home in Sydney’s north-west.

Detectives working under Operation Moonbi have found 158 alleged child victims in the files, spanning a 16-year period.

Tait’s 444 charges make him Australia’s most prolific alleged abuser in a daycare setting. If found guilty, he will have abused more children than any other childcare worker in the country’s history.

He worked for many years at the Fit Kidz franchise, which has branches across Sydney’s north-western suburbs.

A court order suppressing Tait’s identity was lifted in July, after the Herald fought the year-long order preventing his name from being published.

The AFP has since activated an online resource for parents and carers to access information on Tait’s employment history, and support services.

Authorities believe that Tait worked at 62 centres during his career. Ten were raided by police, and alleged abuse identified at five. Tait’s alleged victims, spoken to by investigators, are located across Australia and Britain.

Police suspect Tait preyed upon vulnerable children in a remote Indigenous community in South Australia, where he travelled to work with children in his capacity as an early childhood educator.

The AFP engaged South Australia Police in November over concerns for the community, located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands that border the Northern Territory in the west of South Australia.

Tait’s matter will be heard at Parramatta Local Court on October 8.

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