Source : Perth Now news
WARNING: Distressing content
A Sydney childcare worker who sexually abused children aged as young as five was brought undone after he was caught posting on the dark web.
New documents reveal the intricate police investigation that led to the discovery of a trove of child abuse material on his phone.
David William James, 26, has admitted to a raft of child abuse offences against children aged as young as five at out-of-school hours (OOSH) care centres across Sydney between 2021 and 2024.
James, who was employed as a sworn officer with the NSW Police at the time of some of his offending, has pleaded guilty to 11 charges including using a child under 14 to make child abuse material, filming a sexual act with a child under the age of 16 for abuse material, and possessing and producing child abuse material.
He will be sentenced on Thursday just weeks after the mother of one of James’s victims told the court she “can’t escape” reminders of the abuse, and how she will forever wonder if her son was “trying to tell me something”.
New details of how James’s sexual abuse was unravelled by police who tracked his activity on the dark web can now be revealed after court documents were released to NewsWire.
A person by the username “Remy” was discovered online on the dark web in late 2024, with a police officer assigned to an online offences taskforce noting the person was likely operating out of Australia, as they were online between 9.30pm and 2am most nights.
“Remy”, later revealed as James, posted six images of young boys aged between five and seven years old the following month, with police tracking down the metadata on one of the images and matching it to a festival on Sydney’s lower north shore.
CCTV footage from the area on the relevant day was then obtained by police, with the video capturing James looking behind him before taking out his phone and snapping a photo of a child and a man in the crowd. Neither the child nor the man were aware of what was going on.
Police then tracked him buying a drink at a nearby hotel via other CCTV footage based on the direction he walked from the festival.
Officers went to his house with a search warrant the following week, and James was arrested after initially refusing to provide police with passwords to his computer and phone.
A trove of child abuse material (CAM) was later discovered on his phone after a digital forensics examiner finally managed to access the devices the following month.
The pictures and videos found on James’s phone involved boys as young as five, though much of the details are too distressing to publish.
news.com.au mental health helplinesThe mother of one of his victims said she woke up most nights wondering if the abuse identified by the police was “really all that happened” to her son in a victim impact statement read out to the court on her behalf last month.
“There is no escape or way to move forward,” her victim impact statement stated.
“I wonder if my son will recall something someday and what this will do to him.
“My son was innocent, he was a little boy who deserved to feel safe.
“(I will) forever wonder if he was trying to tell me something more at the time and I misread the signs.”
She said there was a “mix of horror and fear” when she was told about what James had done, detailing how she and her husband now finish work early every day to pick up their son and take time off on school holidays to care for him.
“What is worse than knowing what this man has done is feeling responsible for his actions,” she said.
“The guilt you feel in leaving (your children) to go to work is only eased by assuring yourself that they are safe … Mr James’s actions has stolen this from me.”
James apologised to the children and their parents in a handwritten letter seen by NewsWire, writing that he is “deeply ashamed” and “truly sorry”.
He also extended his apologies to the police who had to review “countless files of distressing content” and the men working in the childcare industry who may be affected as a result of his offending.
A court was previously told he was remorseful for his actions and open to treatment.
