Parents of children sexually abused by a "monster" who worked at an Adelaide childcare centre have told a court they will never forgive him for taking their children's innocence away.
WARNING: This story contains details that readers may find distressing.
Bronte John Ciracovitch, 31, has pleaded guilty to multiple child abuse charges, including producing child abuse material while working at a childcare centre in Adelaide's north.
Ciracovitch was working as an educator at the childcare centre when he was arrested in 2020 and taken into custody.
During sentencing submissions, one mother told the District Court her heart sank when detectives arrived at her work with "the most horrendous information to share".
She told the court her then four-year-old son had previously made a comment about being touched by Ciracovitch.
"I physically felt ill and guilt ridden that my son had previously alerted me to foul play and I hadn't picked up on the cues and protected him from the monster I was unknowingly subjecting him to daily," she told the court.
"I assumed this was a flippant comment and there was nothing to worry about.
She said police later told her photos of her son were on Ciracovitch's personal phone.
The boy's father told the court his son still had nightmares about "the scary poo-poo man" he later realised was Ciracovitch.
"My life perspective has changed and I don't trust or have faith in establishments or anyone," he told the court.
"Preying on children who cannot defend themselves and procuring them for your own benefit is one of the lowest acts.
"Your selfish perverted acts have changed our lives and our family forever and I will never forgive or forget."
'I will never forgive you'
Another mother whose son was also abused at the childcare centre asked Ciracovitch how he could have looked her in the eye each day "knowing how deeply you were damaging" her son.
"We have struggled emotionally to come to terms with how we allowed someone so vile to get close to us," she told the court in a victim impact statement.
"I held so much trust in you that when my son came forward, I questioned him, and for that I will never forgive you.
"Not only have you embedded a life-long journey of pain into my son, you abused your position of power over vulnerable children, most of which are too young to have a voice."
She said her son "was the hero in this story" and would eventually heal, but Ciracovitch would have to live with the truth about what he had done.
The matter returns to court next month.
