The deputy chief of Families SA has resigned after revealing he inadvertently misled the government about a childcare worker charged with sexually abusing seven children.
Department of Education and Child Development deputy chief executive David Waterford stepped down after realising he had accidentally provided inaccurate briefings to senior government figures, including Child Development Minister Jennifer Rankine.
On Friday, Ms Rankine said she could not confirm a newspaper report that the charged worker was previously investigated for alleged inappropriate behaviour involving a female toddler in his care.
The newspaper said the 32-year-old man was stood down while an internal inquiry was undertaken, but was cleared to resume work with children.
The minister and Mr Waterford both previously indicated there had been no previous suspicions about the man before he was charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with seven young children under his watch at an Adelaide residential care facility.
Mr Waterford said he had re-examined a number of key documents in light of the new claims that had emerged in the media and discovered he had failed to read a critical section of one document.
"That failure caused me to honestly but inaccurately brief the minister and chief executive," Mr Waterford said in a statement on Monday. "I believe that as a consequence, the minister made certain statements that were inaccurate."
Acting premier John Rau would not confirm which information had proved to be misleading because doing so would risk prejudicing the prosecution against the alleged offender.
Mr Waterford said his advice to Ms Rankine was based on his memory of the documents and he had not provided the minister with a written briefing.
He said he tendered his resignation as soon as he realised he had provided inaccurate information and that he had not been asked to step down.
The emotional impact of the allegations revealed to him had left him tired and he had only "skimmed" one of the documents in question, he said.
Opposition leader Steven Marshall said Ms Rankine should resign, saying he found it "implausible" that she did not demand a written briefing on the issue before addressing the public.
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