Parents in Queensland are outraged after childcare waited months to notify them of an employee who allegedly harmed a child

Queensland parents were outraged after being told a former daycare worker in the Gold Coast has been indicted on a charge of indecent treatment – four months after the alleged incident.

A 17-year-old was charged on January 19 after an alleged offense at the child care center, which has not been named for legal reasons, in December last year.

The boy appeared at Southport Children’s Court earlier this week.

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Families of children attending the daycare received an email this week notifying them of the boy’s court appearance.

The 17-year-old is “charged with an offense against a child who … visited our center in 2022,” the email said.

“The crime is said to have occurred in the center.”

The center confirmed the boy’s employment at the center ended last year before his arrest and said police are not investigating other matters at the center.

Employees are “disturbed to learn of the charges,” the email said.

The father of the child involved in the alleged incident spoke to 7NEWS and said he felt “queasy” when he saw the email.

“When I saw the email … I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I’m afraid to tell my wife, to tell my family, what happened.”

He said it felt like the boy who hurt her child was being protected, even though her child was the one who deserved protection.

They were kept from the details of what happened to their son, he said, and their son is too young to tell them exactly what happened.

“This morning I come here and try to find out what happened,” he said. “You won’t say anything.”

“Just tell me what happened.

“Give us some and then maybe we can sleep… as a parent I don’t know… I don’t know what happened to that boy.”

Parents outraged by delay

Other parents have expressed their outrage to 7NEWS after receiving the email, saying they should have been informed of this “critical information” much sooner.

“This is ridiculous,” said one parent.

“And now this center, which now happens to have a revolving door of staff, has only just shared this important information with us.”

Another parent, who has two children who attend the center, said: “It’s just scary, it just makes the blood boil”.

“I just feel sorry for the kid,” he said.

“He was all over the store, you know, you don’t know if kids are safe or not.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.”

The center was contacted for comment.