Community Living and Respite Echuca suspends worker who pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material

Daffyd Knox worked at Community Living and Respite Echuca - an organisation which provides disability services to residents in Echuca and surrounding districts.

Knox appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court last week where he pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly possessing "child pornography".

He is due to be sentenced in September.

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Community Living and Respite Echuca chief executive Leah Taaffe confirmed the organisation was aware of Knox's legal proceedings.

"As soon as we were notified of the matter, we suspended the person in question from employment with us," Ms Taaffe said.

"We continue to work with Victoria Police and are providing whatever support and assistance required to their investigation.

"We want to assure the community that the welfare of our participants is paramount.

"We are undertaking an internal investigation which will review any impact of this matter and are looking at ways to further strengthen our employment process."

Ms Taaffe said when hiring Knox, CLRE applied all of the relevant checks including police checks, referee checks, and Working with Children Checks.

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She said none of the procedures identified any issues that would make Knox unfit for work.

Knox first appeared in court on the child abuse material charge in October last year.

Ms Taaff said CLRS was notified of the charges on March 8 and suspended Knox's employment immediately.

She said it was disappointing the organisation was not made aware of the allegations earlier.

"The safety and trust of our participants and their families is paramount to CLRS and core to our values," she said.

"We are offering support services to anyone in our CLRS community impacted by this event and encourage anyone with concerns to contact us or Victoria Police."

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