SA inquiry into pedophile crimes

The crimes of pedophile childcare worker Shannon McCoole will be investigated in new hearings to be conducted by South Australia's royal commission into child protection.

The hearings will examine how the Families SA childcare worker and child pornography website administrator was able to commit offences against children in state care between 2011 and 2014.

McCoole was jailed for 35 years in August for 18 state and two federal offences, including persistent sexual exploitation of children, sexual intercourse with children, and the production and dissemination of child pornography.

The commission's fifth and final case study is expected to run for about six weeks from January 18 and involve more than 80 witnesses, including those involved in hiring McCoole and those who worked with him.

Commissioner Margaret Nyland says while McCoole has indicated he will co-operate with the commission, a decision has not been made on whether he will be called to give evidence.

"We will be exploring a number of themes including the screening, training, registration and supervision of those who work in the system," she said on Wednesday.

"I am hopeful that at the conclusion of this case study, we will have a clearer picture of the shortfalls in the system which permitted the abuse of some very vulnerable children."

McCoole was caught after Danish police notified Australian authorities of online child pornography that was traced back to him.

More than 53,000 child pornography images, almost 600 of which related to his own abusive acts, were found when police raided his home.

The discovery sparked the royal commission into South Australia's child protection system.