The vile paedophile hiding in plain sight: How pervert got a job as a lifeguard – after grooming a 13-year-old Aussie boy
A pedophile and former water polo coach convicted of child abuse in Queensland has been fired from his job at a holiday park in England after a background check turned up no evidence about his international victims.
South African Dean Carelse, 43, was hired in early 2023 to watch children swimming at Butlin’s resort in Minehead, a seaside town in Somerset.
It took 10 months for Butlin’s to become aware of Carelse’s nearly 20 previous convictions – and they only found out after a journalist from the ABC contacted them.
A background check failed to find him guilty of grooming a 13-year-old boy for sex and 14 charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16, as Australian police were only able to share limited evidence about international victims.
The charges relate to a period in late 2010 when the water polo coach worked at a private Sunshine Coast school.
Carelse was first arrested and charged after police raided his home in Mooloolaba, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, in March 2021.
Officers have seized more than 20,000 child exploitation images, as well as indecent recordings of students at a Queensland swimming pool.
Dean Carelse, 43, is pictured with his colleagues at Butlin’s family resort park in Somerset. A British background check failed to show that he had been convicted of nearly 20 offenses in Australia
Carelse worked as a lifeguard at the resort’s Splash Waterworlds (pictured) but was ‘immediately’ dismissed after Butlin launched an investigation into his previous convictions
A trial at the Maroochydore Magistrate’s Court in March 2022 heard that Carelse made the recordings during a school sports carnival in November 2019.
He was sentenced to prison and deported to South Africa the following year, where no restrictions were placed on where he could move.
After being deported to South Africa, the convicted pedophile traveled to Minehead, a coastal town in Somerset, where he started working as a lifeguard at Splash Waterworlds near Butlin’s.
The resort’s website states that children over eight years old can play unsupervised.
A spokesman for Butlin said no complaints had been made against Carelse during his 10 months of employment.
He added that the recruitment process had been in accordance with government standards, but that the alleged information on Carelse’s side had been ‘falsified’.
“The team member falsified information on their application,” the spokesperson said.
Butlin’s alleged Carelse (pictured) ‘falsified details’ on his job application and said their employment policy would be reviewed rather than monitored
Carelse was director of rugby and water polo at Matthew Flinders Anglican School on the Sunshine Coast (pictured) before being dismissed for misconduct in 2019
Butlin’s said it would review its employment policies and put in place additional checks for existing and future international team members.
An official UK criminal check obtained by the ABC, which was co-signed by an international recruiter, shows Carelse has no previous criminal convictions.
Following an investigation into devices seized from Carelse’s Mooloolaba home, Queensland Police discovered evidence of young South African victims.
They alerted their police colleagues in South Africa, and the South African police then asked their colleagues in Australia for more information.
After a few months, Queensland police told the South African investigator that they had to formally ask through an international agreement to get what they needed.
The South African Police investigator told the ABC that this information may have led to charges against Carelse that would have kept him in the country.
Instead, the former coach was able to move to Britain and look for work.
The researcher said the information may also have been relevant to an investigation into an alleged pedophile ring in South African private schools.
He said that Carelse was probably part of the network.
South African police have received up to 30 names of the estimated 60 alleged victims, but say more information is needed to lay charges.
The Queensland College of Teachers suspended Carelse’s registration in March 2021 after he was charged with nearly two dozen charges, including grooming and indecent treatment of a child
In a statement, Queensland Police said child exploitation material could not simply be shared with an overseas force.
“The QPS has no authority to send these without an application in the form of an MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) from the South African Police Service,” the report said.
‘This did not happen.’
Carelse worked as an instructor at Water Polo Queensland and was director of rugby and water polo at Matthew Flinders Anglican School on the Sunshine Coast.
He worked at the Buderim school until he was dismissed for violating the school’s code of conduct in 2019.
The Queensland College of Teachers suspended its registration in March 2021 after the charges were laid.