A Sydney man, 26, accused of exploiting his role as a child care worker to produce child abuse material featuring 10 children aged six or younger at centres he worked in can now be unmasked. 

David James is facing 13 offences, including nine counts of aggravated use of a child to make child abuse material, one count of using a child to make abuse material, two counts of possessing abuse material, and one count of refusing officers access to his phone.

James worked full-time at an Artarmon daycare and casually at several after-school care centres in Sydney’s northern suburbs. 

Police said James has been refused bail since October 2024. The case details can now be revealed after a court lifted suppression orders on Thursday.

Court documents, seen by the Sydney Morning Herald last year, suggested that James allegedly filmed ‘pre-pubescent boys’ aged three to six years old.

It’s also alleged that he allegedly pleasured himself in a classroom in front of children and filmed young boys as they used the bathroom at the daycare.

It can also be revealed that James was trying to become a police officer but was axed from the force after failing NSW Police’s probationary period.

‘During his employment, the man failed to seek the required approval to engage in secondary employment, and as such, police were unaware of his concurrent role in the childcare sector,’ a NSW Police statement reads.

‘We acknowledge the seriousness of the allegations and condemn any behaviour that places our community’s most vulnerable members at risk.’

Police confirmed that 1,200 families and carers potentially exposed to James have received letters.

‘Based on information currently available, investigators believe the alleged behaviour of the man involves a very small number of children,’ an AFP statement read.

However, the parents and carers of any child who may have had contact with the man have received a letter.’

He did not front court on Thursday.

Full list of childcare centres where he worked:

Artarmon Before and After School Care – Willoughby City Council (June 2019)

Bales Park OOSH Services (December 2018)

Beacon Hill Vacation Care – Northern Beaches Council (December 2018)

Camp Australia – Artarmon (February – December 2022)

Camp Australia – St Andrews cathedral (June 2018)

Camp Australia – St Lukes Grammar School (April 2018)

Chatswood ASC & VC – Willoughby City Council (November 2018)

Cromer Vacation Care – Northern Beaches Council (January 2020)

Cubby House – Artarmon (June – August 2019)

Forestville Vacation Care – Northern Beaches Council (July 2018 – April 2022)

The Girls & Boys Brigade – Surry Hills (November 2020)

Gowrie NSW Erskineville Outside of School Hours Care (June 2018; February 2019)

Gowrie NSW North Sydney Community VC (April 2023)

Helping Hands – Bourke Street (March 2019 – April 2024)

Helping Hands – Lane Cove West (April 2018 – September 2024)

Helping Hands – North Ryde (May 2018 – August 2023)

Helping Hands – St Ives Park Public School (December 2023 – May 2024)

Helping Hands – Willoughby Public School (April 2018 – December 2022)

Hornsby South Before and After School Care (May 2018)

Jigsaw – Anzac Park Public School (May 2018)

KGV OSHC – City of Sydney (November 2018 – April 2022)

KidsCo Australia – Virtual Holiday Program (July – August 2021)

Knox Grammar High School (March 2018 – July 2020)

Knox Grammar School OSHClub (May 2024)

Manly Vale VC – Northern Beaches Council (April 2019 – July 2022)

North Shore Coaching College (July 2023 – September 2024)

OSHClub – Barker College (May 2018 – May 2024)

OSHClub – Beaumont Road (May 2018 – April 2023)

OSHClub – Fort Street (May 2018)

OSHClub – Highfields (April – November 2018)

OSHClub – Hornsby South (August 2018 – July 2023)

OSHClub – Knox Grammar Preparatory (May 2018 – February 2020)

OSHClub – Newington Lindfield (February 2020)

OSHClub – Smalls Road (February 2022 – August 2023)

Our Lady of Good Counsel OSHC – Forestville (August 2018 – March 2019)

Our Lady of the Rosary OSHC – Waitara (October 2018)

Primary OSHCare – Chatswood (September 2019 – March 2020)

Primary OSHCare – Forestville (February 2021)

Primary OSHCare – Frenchs Forest (September 2022)

Primary OSHCare – Killarney Heights (January 2023)

Primary OSHCare – Mowbray (March 2020 – May 2024)

Primary OSHCare – St Ives (July 2021 – January 2024)

Primary OSHCare – St Ives North (February – March 2024)

Pyrmont OSHC – City of Sydney (October 2018 – July 2022)

SCECS – OSHC Rose Bay (January – May 2023)

St Kierans OSHC – Manly Vale (May 2018 – February 2019)

St Martin’s Davidson OSHC (September 2018)

St Mary’s OOSH – Erskineville (December 2020)

Stanmore OSHC Service – Inner West Council (July – August 2018)

TeamKids – ANZAC Park Public School (February 2021 – June 2023)

TheirCare – Ravenswood School for Girls (May 2023)

TheirCare – St Andrew’s Cathedral School (December 2020)

Ultimo OSHC – City of Sydney (July 2018 – September 2024)

Uniting OSHC Brookvale (July 2023)

West Lindfield Getaway – Vacation Care – Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council (April 2018)

Willoughby Kids House (July 2023)

YMCA Bankstown City (July 2018)

YMCA NSW – Lycee Condorcet (July – August 2023)

List of centres as at 1pm on July 31, 2025. Source: afp.gov.au