INSIDE THE CONTROVERSY: CHI-LDCARE CENTRE STANDS BY DIRECTOR AFTER HER QUIET NAME CHANGE AMID HUSBAND’S HIGH-PROFILE CRIM-INAL CASE
The wife of Hamish Alexander Edward Tait – the man accused of Australia’s worst childcare sex abuse scandal – has dropped her married name and is devastated by the allegations, her bosses say.
Hamish Tait, 35, is accused of 329 charges involving 150 children. The charges against him include: sexually touching children under ten, filming them and their toilet trips, inciting indecent acts or recording their private parts.
Tait is accused of offending at five daycare centres of a list of 62 early education centres he visited between 2009 and 2025. Claire, his wife and mother of his three children, began working as the director of one centre that he is alleged to have offended at, Fit Kidz Learning Centre Rouse Hill, in 2011.
Since Tait was arrested and remanded in custody last June, Claire has adopted her maiden name, Stray. She also sold the family’s home in Glossodia, on the city’s outskirts, for just under $1million on June 26.
It is not suggested that Ms Stray had either any knowledge of her husband’s alleged crimes or participated in them. Indeed, she has not been charged with any offences despite an extensive police investigation into her husband spanning more than a year.
Her bosses, Fit Kidz co-owners Mick and Melissa Scaife, declined to confirm whether Ms Stray was currently working at or operating one of their childcare centres.
‘Ms Stray has been a valued member of our team for 15 years,’ they said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘This has obviously been devastating for her and her family. We are doing everything we can to support her, alongside all of our educators and our families, through this.’
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Claire Stray, the wife of Australia’s worst alleged childcare paedophile Hamish Tait, has changed her name and sold her home. Pictured together, above, during a photoshoot
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Ms Stray was the director of Fit Kidz at Rouse Hill. Above, a birthday message posted on the daycare centre’s social media pages
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Hamish Tait’s identity was revealed by a court last week
A NSW court last week lifted a long-standing suppression order preventing Tait from being identified, despite his lawyers arguing that such orders should continue to ‘protect both the physical and mental safety’ of him, his parents and Ms Stray.
His lawyers lost out to prosecutors’ counter-arguments that Tait’s identity and work locations were ‘the worst kept secret in that community’.
Tait, a former schoolboy at Barker College, was arrested last June at the family home, with officers seizing 25 electronic devices containing 2.4million files including alleged child abuse images.
The release of his identity coincided with the Federal Police issuing an alarming list of education facilities Tait attended. Four Fit Kidz locations, and his own early education business, Wild Earthlings, were among the list where alleged offences occurred.
Locations on the AFP list that he visited are as far flung as the Amata Anangu School, in the APY Lands, in remote South Australia, 500km southwest of Alice Springs.
Police have so far identified 136 children Tait allegedly offended against. They attended Fit Kidz in Warrawee, Rouse Hill, Putney and Box Hill, and Wild Earthlings at Glenorie.
They are seeking the identities of 22 more and have released images of children’s clothing in a bid to find them.
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Police arrest Hamish Tait at his Glossodia home last July (above). It has now been sold by his wife
Parents – appalled by the allegations – said they were attracted by Hamish Tait’s positive attitude as an apparent advocate for children’s growth and development, running his running his own nature-focused daycare business.
‘He spoke about children with nothing but respect and dignity and advocated for their rights,’ one mother, Heather from northwestern Sydney said.
After charges were laid against Tait, she said she felt ‘disgust, anger, grief, everything’.
Police expect more parents will come forward after publishing the list of places where Tait worked. Read the full list below.
Parents who believe their child had contact with Tait are urged to call the AFP on (02) 9765 1000 between 7am and 7pm AEST.
Hamish Alexander Edward Tait will face court again on September 10.
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732. Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
Where Hamish Tait worked in childcare: The full police list
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Hamish Tait
Police allege offending occurred at locations marked with an asterisk:
Alasan Cottage Preschool
Amata Anangu School
Beaumont Hills OOSH (Jigsaw OOSH or Beaumont Hills OOSH)
Bright Minds Cranebrook
Carinya Neighbourhood Childrens Centre Inc
Cocoon Early Learning Centre
Cooranbong Valley Community Preschool
Dee Why Kindergarten
Endeavour Early Education – Kariong
Explore and Develop Leichhardt
Explore and Develop Roseville
Explore and Develop Waitara
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Box Hill*
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Dural North
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Dural South
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Glenwood North
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Glenwood South
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Putney*
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Rouse Hill*
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Turramurra
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Vineyard
Fit Kidz Learning Centre Warrawee*
Friendly Faces Childcare
Glenning Valley Child Care Centre
Glenorie Preschool
Goodstart Early Learning Centre Woodcroft
Gorokan Preschool
Gracelands Early Education Centre
Heritage House Cherrybrook Early Education Centre
Jasmine Preschool
Jigsaw OOSH Dural
Kiddiwinks Play, Laugh & Learn – Warriewood
Kindy 4 Kids
Kradle 2 Krayons Long Day Centre
Leura Child Care Centre
Little Peoples Early Learning Centre Wollongong
Maraylya Early Learning Centre
Milestones Early Learning, Baulkham Hills
Mimosa Kids
Montessori Academy – Alexandria
Montessori Academy – Engadine
Montessori Academy – Gymea
Montessori Academy – Penrith
Montessori Academy – Zetland – Victoria Park
Morisset and District Children’s Centre
Oakville Preschool
Pacific Hills OOSH / BAASC
Pennant Hills Before & After School Care
Peter Pan Kindergarten
Quakers Hill Kindergarten and Child Care Centre
Silverdale Child Care Centre
Tiny Tykes Family Day Care
Wiggles & Giggles Cranebrook
Wild Earthlings Glenorie*
Wild Earthlings Cumberland State Forest
Wild Earthlings Sydney Park
Wild Earthlings Wolli Creek
Willunga Child Care Centre
Windsor Preschool
Woodport Early Learning Centre
Young Academics Early Learning Centre Rouse Hill
