A former YMCA childcare worker now in jail for child sex abuse was regularly seen with kids on his lap and even told a colleague he had a "soft spot" for boys.
But a casual childcare assistant has told the commission looking at how the YMCA and police handled allegations against Jonathan Lord that she didn't think his behaviour was inappropriate.
Alicia Dellaca told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that she just thought the comment by Lord - who is serving a 10-year sentence for a string of offences against children - could justify a lot of his actions.
"Anytime I would see him paying attention to children, or going above and beyond in his job role, or wanting to stay behind to finish off games, that first statement that he made to me made me believe that his intentions were good," she told a public hearing for the commission in Sydney on Tuesday.
Ms Dellaca said she frequently saw Lord sit children on his lap.
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"(But) considering the fact it was done in such a public forum, in clear view of other staff, I guess I believed that grooming and other sexually inappropriate behaviours would be done out of sight," she explained.
Danielle Ockwell, who also worked with Lord at the YMCA, said she discovered he had a picture of an eight-year-old boy at the centre as a screensaver on his mobile phone. She told the commission she found it odd but decided not to report it to her manager.
A sobbing Ms Ockwell said she felt devastated and blamed herself daily for what happened.
She said she felt she too had been a victim of Lord's grooming.
Both Ms Ockwell and Ms Dellaca admitted they did not fully understand YMCA's policies and procedures outlining what is considered inappropriate staff behaviour.
Ms Dellaca said she thought the policies existed to help staff become accredited rather than guide their behaviour at work.
"In hindsight it seems quite obvious, but I didn't understand that that was the point and that it was available to us to check how we were to conduct ourselves," she said.
"It wasn't something that was practised by myself or something that I saw practised by others."
They both complained of being treated badly by YMCA after the allegations against Lord were made public. They were told to sign confidentiality agreements, which forbade them from discussing the matters with parents or the media.
A YMCA spokesman conceded the organisation must go further than training its staff and would continue to create community and industry awareness around the issue of grooming.
"What we have learned throughout all of this is that, whilst training was done and policies did exist, it is clear it is not enough to train our staff to recognise the insidious and ambiguous nature of deceitful person such as Lord," the spokesman said in a statement.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
