dpHamish Tait can now be unmasked as the Sydney childcare worker facing 329 charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of more than 136 children after he lost a bid for secrecy in court.
Mr Tait, aged 35, is accused of carrying out the alleged abuse over a 16-year period between 2009 to 2025 across four childcare centres in Sydney’s northwest as well as his own private business.
The man had fought to keep his identity suppressed, but a judge on Monday ruled in favour of the Australian Federal Police, prosecutors, and the media who had all opposed his bid for secrecy.
Mr Tait came to the attention of the AFP in June 2025 after they were alerted by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children that child abuse had allegedly been uploaded online.
More than two million files were seized from the man’s devices during a search warrant, with a large volume of CAM allegedly found. The AFP have identified 136 alleged victims from 121 families across Sydney, but there are a further 22 potential victims investigators are trying to identify.
All the alleged victims were either preschool or primary school aged, with AFP Acting Commander Luke Needham calling the alleged abuse “devastating”.
“The abuse of trust we allege has occurred is devastating and will have lifelong ramifications for victims and their families,” Mr Needham told reporters on Monday evening.
“All I can say is we never gave up, and we never will.”
The AFP further allege Mr Tait shared child abuse material overseas on three occasions, but Mr Needham said there was no evidence to suggest he had uploaded anything to the dark web.
Most of the alleged offending occurred in NSW, however Mr Needham said there was some “limited offending that occurred in South Australia”.
The AFP have listed all 62 of the early childhood education facilities Mr Tait worked at or visited on their website for the taskforce Operation Moonbi, which includes a series of Fit Kidz learning centres.
The website also includes advice on support services and who to contact should people require further assistance.
“There are 22 victims who we are yet to positively identify and that’s why I would point the community to our website… We would ask the community to consider what they might be able to share with the AFP which we hope goes some way in assisting us in identifying those other 22 (alleged) victims,” he said.
“As a parent myself, I’m acutely aware of how distressing this news is.”
Some of Mr Tait’s alleged victims could now be adults due to how far back the alleged abuse spans, Mr Needham told the media on Monday.
Alleged child abuser loses secrecy bid in court
Mr Tait is facing more than 160 counts related to allegations he produced child abuse material (CAM) and 46 allegations he used a child under the age of 14 to make CAM.
The remaining charges include a series of accusations that he sexually touched children aged under 10, filmed a person in a private act without consent, filmed a person’s private parts without consent, and used a carriage service to make child abuse available.
His identity had been subject to a temporary suppression order originally sought by the AFP to protect their investigation, however the agency fought against Mr Tait’s bid for an extended order which would have kept his identity a secret.
Lawyers for Mr Tait had argued naming him and his former workplaces could prejudice a potential jury or juries, and suggested the AFP could pursue other options in seeking to identify further alleged victims without naming Mr Tait.
The AFP in turn argued their ongoing investigation could be prejudiced if an order were to be made, and that authorities should have the opportunity to identify any remaining potential victims.
Judge Peter Feather ultimately ruled against Mr Tait, telling the court his evidence “has not persuaded me”.
He rejected submissions that the publication of his name would incurably prejudice and hinder the administration of justice against Mr Tait.
“I find to make a non-publication order would frustrate the investigative attempts of the AFP which is part of the proper administration of justice,” Mr Feather told the Parramatta Local Court on Monday.
Minister for Education Jason Clare said “not enough has been done in the past to keep our kids safe”, but that “that’s now changing” while speaking generally on Monday.
The government is investing half a billion dollars to support safety reforms across the childcare sector, and have passed legislation to allow funding to be cut from centres that aren’t up to scratch.
“This is not the end. It’s just the start. The terrible truth is this work will never end,” Mr Clare said while speaking generally.
