Ashley Paul Griffith, 45, named as Queensland childcare worker who allegedly raped, abused and filmed 91 girls in centres over 15 years

A childcare worker accused of more than 1600 charges relating to the abuse of 91 little girls over 15 years can finally be named.

A childcare worker accused of being one of the country’s worst child-sex offenders can now be unmasked as 45-year-old Ashley Paul Griffith.

The Gold Coast man is accused of raping and abusing 91 girls at various centres in Queensland, New South Wales and overseas over a 15-year period without detection.

Griffith has been charged with more than 1600 offences including rape, indecent treatment of children and making and possessing child exploitation material.

In Queensland alone, he is facing 136 counts of rape, 604 charges of indecent treatment of a child and 613 counts of making child exploitation material.

Police will allege videos and photographs produced by Griffith were first spotted on a dark web platform by investigators in 2014.

Ashley Paul Griffith is facing more than 1600 changes.

But it was not until August 2022 that objects in the background of the videos and photographs were traced back to a Brisbane childcare centre by the Australian Federal Police.

Griffith was arrested in August last year and charged with making and distributing child abuse material.

Since then, he had been hit with hundreds of extra charges after officers from the Australian Federal Police and the Queensland Police Service combed through thousands of images allegedly found on the man’s phone and other electronic devices.

Police say identification experts were able to track down 87 little girls allegedly abused by Griffith who has been in custody since his arrest.

The offending is alleged to have been committed in Brisbane between 2007 to 2013, and 2018 to 2022, in Europe in 2013 and 2014, and at one centre in Sydney between 2014 and 2017.

The AFP previously released a statement saying it was “highly confident” that all of the 87 children had been identified and their families informed of the investigation.

In August, AFP Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said: “I can assure members of the Australian public that if you have not been contacted by law enforcement, it is extremely unlikely your child was allegedly offended against by the man”.

“The AFP is highly confident that all the Australian children who were recorded in the alleged child-abuse material have been identified,” she said.

“This is a distressing time for families, carers and the community broadly.”

Griffith’s charges will be mentioned again in court on November 6.