Childcare rapist pleads guilty to hundreds of charges, families in tears
By Cloe Read
The family of a girl sexually abused in childcare has criticised the early education system as “broken” and asked how the offending remained undetected for so long, as her abuser admitted to more than 300 charges.
Ashley Paul Griffith was arraigned before the Brisbane District Court on Monday in front of dozens of victims’ family members, some crying as the court took three hours to read out each of the charges.
Wearing a striped polo, jeans, and red Nike sneakers, the 46-year-old Griffith showed little emotion but nodded almost every time he pleaded guilty to the court.
The Gold Coast man pleaded guilty to 307 charges, which included 28 counts of rape, 190 counts of indecent treatment of children, and 67 counts of making child exploitation material.
He also pleaded guilty to producing child exploitation material in Italy, several counts of unlawfully maintaining a relationship with a child as an adult, and taking indecent photos of girls.
When asked if he had anything to say to the charges, Griffith shook his head.
Griffith was arrested in August 2022 by federal police, but his identity was not publicly known until October 2023 because of previous Queensland legislation that prevented media from identifying people on rape or sexual assault charges.
Gold Coast man Ashley Paul Griffith pleaded guilty to more than 300 offences on Monday. Credit: Nine
A set of bedsheets in the background of dark web videos led detectives to arrest Griffith.
The charges spanned across childcare centres throughout Brisbane from 2007 to 2022, and included the alleged rape and indecent treatment of several girls younger than 12.
Griffith’s indictment was presented to the District Court in July this year, with the reduced number of 320 charges.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher dropped 13 charges relating to the indecent treatment of a child on Monday morning, bringing the total to 307.
Griffith had all the necessary qualifications for his job as a childcare worker, but his offending went undetected, police said last year.
Outside court, the parents of one victim questioned how the childcare system had failed to detect his offending.
“We certainly feel there’s something broken in the system ... it’s hard to believe that it’s being run as effectively as it could be,” the parents said.
“We see people taking their little kids [into the childcare centre] and I go, this happened to my child in that room, it’s a room full of horrors.
“It was good that it was a guilty plea, we can move onto the next step now. It would’ve been awful if he pleaded innocent, and then we had to go through that.”
The parents said they would be disappointed if there was any eligibility for parole in Griffith’s sentencing.
Judge Anthony Rafter ordered for a pre-sentence report, including a psychological assessment to be prepared, with the case adjourned to next Monday to determine Griffith’s sentencing date.
He was remanded in custody and his legal team made no application for bail.
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