A man with a history of sexual crimes was found to have forged mandatory safety check documents when he was stood down from a job after being accused of mistreating children in care.
Gael Kita, 30, forged his Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration card and national police check when he was employed by Capability Support in Canberra for about a month in 2024.
Kita had a criminal history of sexual crimes which prevented him from being able to work in the industry, but relied on the forged documents to hold the job working with children aged between 12 and 17. At times he was alone with them.
Kita, who had repeatedly applied for registration and was denied, had a criminal history that included committing an act of indecency without consent and capturing intimate visual data without consent.
The man was handed a backdated four-month-and-two-week jail sentence for his latest crimes when he faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 7.
Capability Support, which provides support services for children in out-of-home care, defended their actions and are now advocating for national improvements to the system of checks for staff working with children.
Kita pleaded guilty to using a false document, engaging in a regulated activity without being registered and forgery.
In 2024, Kita obtained a copy of a friend's registration card and national police check.
He then modified the copies by placing his name and photo on the card, and changed the police check to make it difficult to read.
Kita then provided these forged documents to Capability Support and began working with the service in November 2024.
The court heard he provided care to children and transported them to and from school.
Kita was stood down about a month later due to allegations described in a letter by Capability Support as "ill treatment of a child" and "hostile use of force towards a child".
It was then discovered that his documents had been forged.
Capability Support is a Canberra-based business which provides therapeutic support services to children and adults.
In response to questions from The Canberra Times, chief executive Mark Marlor said "any incident which puts any young person in our care at risk is of grave and immediate concern to us".
Mr Marlor said Capability Support "acted decisively" and completed a thorough investigation into the crimes which resulted in additional safeguard measures being implemented.
"Our investigation identified several opportunities to strengthen the WWVP system in the ACT and nationally," he said.
"We are working closely with the ACT government in respect to strengthening the safeguards around these issues."
The chief executive said the provider now checked all registrations through the National Disability Insurance Scheme database as well as physically sighting registration cards. Internal and external audits have also found the business to be compliant.
Giving evidence in court, Kita said he understood his actions were "a very serious offence" and "wrongdoing".
Defence lawyer Toni Tu'ulakitau argued his client's conduct was "an act of desperation" due to financial pressure.
Prosecutor Liam Taylor told the court Kita knew he was being reckless and was not able to engage in that work without proper checks.
"The children were particularly young and particularly vulnerable," Mr Taylor said.
In handing down the sentence, magistrate Glenn Theakston found Kita's actions were "designed to defeat the safeguards" and deceive his previous employer.
"He's clearly defeated, for a short period of time, a scheme designed to protect those who are vulnerable in our community," Mr Theakston said.
As a result of Kita's crimes, Mr Marlor said Capability Support was advocating for the establishment of a national register for worker screening.
"Each and every person in our sector, across our nation, needs to be screened appropriately to work with children and young people, and we need to be confident that the system is working at 100 per cent accuracy because young people must be safe in our care."
Kita remains in custody for other matters.
