How Could You?Hall of Shame-Australia South Australia Foster Carer UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From South Australia, “a foster carer was last week [was] charged with the persistent sexual exploitation of a child.

Police are now identifying other children that have been in the 56-year-old’s care.

The man, who is from regional South Australia, previously volunteered at a school and the Department of Education and Child Development said it was in the process of alerting parents to his arrest.

We are at the moment working with the school,” said the department’s deputy chief executive of child safety, Etienne Scheepers.

“There will be a process with the school to ensure that parents and families are notified.”

The man appeared in court on May 21 and was remanded in custody to reappear on July 10.

Mr Scheepers said the case has caused the department to launch another review of its processes.

“We do have a very extensive process of checking but it is concerning when something like this happens,” he said.

“Foster carers are engaged by non-government organisations. They are registered by Families SA. Every year the agencies do an annual review of the carers that they are responsible for.

“On top of that, Families SA then do a quality assurance check of that annual review.”

Mr Scheepers said foster carers were also subjected to random checks.

“We do have to recognise though that we have thousands of carers that actually do a fantastic job for the children that they’re providing foster care for,” he said.

“We would not want a case to impact them and devalue the really important work that they’re doing.”

The case is the latest in a series of challenges confronting the Education Department and Families SA.

Last year, former Families SA worker Shannon Grant McCoole pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences against children in his care, and last week he pleaded guilty to two further charges of child pornography.

The Debelle Royal Commission in 2013 was prompted by the Government’s handling of a sexual abuse case at an Adelaide school and led to a shake-up of the state’s child protection system.

The Child Protection Systems Royal Commission, which is examining Families SA’s response to child sexual abuse allegations, was announced in August last year.”

Foster carer charged with child sex offences also volunteered at school[ABC 5/29/15]

 REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“A FOSTER father accused of sexually abusing a girl in his care over a three-year period has pleaded guilty, mid-trial, after hearing her sworn evidence.

The man, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences in the District Court’s Mount Gambier sittings on Wednesday.

He confessed to gross indecency, unlawful sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault two days after his trial began, and after his victim — now 11 — gave evidence in court.

The case against the man was revealed exclusively by The Advertiser in May last year, and sparked further investigations by SA Police and Families SA.

Prosecutors alleged the man, in his 50s, repeatedly sexually abused the girl from when she was seven years old until she turned 10 years old.

The man had cared for up to 18 children over a quarter of a century prior to the offending, and had also worked as a school volunteer.

Central to the prosecution case was a video, recorded by another of the man’s stepchildren, that showed him in bed with the girl.

On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the man’s bail be revoked but Judge Simon Stretton refused, remanding him under continuing home detention conditions.

He will face sentencing submissions in Adelaide in September.”

Paedophile foster father confesses to child sex offending mid-trial in Mount Gambier[The Advertiser 7/20/16]