Analysis: Those who spoke up were silenced, and those with the power to act did nothing

Griffin has become to Tasmania what Jimmy Savile is to England – an evil, serial predator who escaped justice via the escape route of death. Just like Savile, people suspected what Griffin was doing to young girls, but did nothing.

WHAT on Earth have we just witnessed?

The sheer number of people who knew that something wasn’t quite right on paediatric ward 4K is in itself staggering.

This week at the child sexual abuse commission of inquiry, we’ve heard about an eye-watering amount of complaints and alerts to authorities. An ever-mounting number of “boundary breaches”. A frankly hellish quantity of red flags.

But no-one in a position of power did anything.

Instead, a paedophile was allowed access to vulnerable children in hospital – and never stopped – for a breathtaking 18 years.

Sadly, the case of James Geoffrey Griffin – also frequently referred to as “Jim”, “just Jim” or “Jimbo” – has left a scar on the face of Tasmania.

It’s the type of scar that all the glossy tourism brochures in the world won’t be able to paper over.

It’s a scar that got deeper and darker by an astonishing lack of action from some of those in the Launceston General Hospital chain – a collective group that seemingly threw up its hands as if to say, “well if no-one else is saying anything, then I don’t want to rock the boat”.

Griffin has become to Tasmania what Jimmy Savile is to England – an evil, serial predator without a hint of remorse who managed to escape justice via the escape route of death.

Just like the case of Savile, people suspected what Griffin was doing to young girls.

But those who spoke up were silenced, and those with the power to act did nothing.

Griffin was never punished for his crimes – and that’s something our island is going to have to live with forever.

Counsel assisting Tasmania's child sexual abuse commission of inquiry, Elizabeth Bennett SC. Picture: ABC

We’re going to have to hang our heads in shame, because we never stood up for his victims.

This week, we’ve heard from a number of brave LGH staff members – those like nurses William Gordon and Maria Unwin – who’ve come forward as whistleblowers.

They’ve done so despite fear of reprisal, despite fear of losing their jobs.

Both nurses have revealed a pitiful state of affairs at the hospital, an institution with a history for only promoting “yes” people.

God help anyone with a shred of integrity, such as these two courageous souls.

This week, the commission of inquiry has revealed a number of disturbing revelations about how the LGH has been managed, including that none of the staff have been trained in identifying grooming and child sexual abuse.

Not one person has had oversight at the hospital for child safety, and there has been no central repository to manage or collate complaints that come from various avenues.

We’ve heard Tasmania is a state that favours industrial relations to child safety.

We’ve also heard Griffin wasn’t the only active paedophile at LGH, with powerful and damning evidence from survivor Ben Felton and the grieving parents of Zoe Duncan.

And we’ve also heard how their claims were dismissed and disbelieved.

Counsel assisting the commission, Elizabeth Bennett SC, has suggested the failings at LGH were “catastrophic”.

Catastrophic is certainly one adjective that fits.

Timeline: Launceston General Hospital and James Geoffrey Griffin

1989: Ben Felton, a 13-year-old boy, is molested by nurse George* (not Griffin) at Launceston General Hospital. His family want George investigated, charged and removed from duty – but are told little more than “I hope your son doesn’t remember”.

1993: Nurse Maria Unwin begins working at LGH and hears about Mr Felton’s abuse. She says staff felt “shocked and sick” by the incident, and that George’s sanctions were inadequate.

2000: An unsuspecting buyer finds child abuse material and links to child abuse websites on a computer they buy from trainee paediatric nurse James Geoffrey Griffin, and report the matter to police.

February 2001: Griffin begins working at LGH as a registered nurse.

March 2001: The buyer writes a follow-up email to police, asking why they haven’t heard anything. “I do not want to think he is working in a kids’ ward somewhere in Tasmania unsupervised given what I have found,” the person writes.

September 2001: Griffin begins working on LGH’s 4K paediatrics ward.

2001: Zoe Duncan, an 11-year-old girl, is raped by a doctor at Launceston General Hospital. A registrar said “the doctor’s a very nice man and he wouldn’t have meant any harm”, while another staff member said “Zoe wasn’t upset enough for sexual assault of any type to have occurred”. The matter is not immediately escalated and the doctor is never charged.

2003: Ben Felton returns to LGH for answers over his sexual assault, but staff refuse to answer him. He is unaware the hospital had investigated but found it unsubstantiated, with George denying it was true.

2004: Griffin receives his first written warning of a “boundary breach” when he greets an adolescent patient by hugging her.

2005: Griffin gives an 11-year-old patient a “wet kiss” on her forehead. When confronted, Griffin says he did so to establish a level of friendship with her.

November 2005: Griffin is sent a letter directed to have a meeting with a staff member about “associations, care provision and boundaries related to gender issues and the workplace”. The letter is forward to the hospital’s HR department.

Tasmanian paedophile and Launceston General Hospital James (Jim) Geoffrey Griffin. SOURCE: SUPPLIED

2009: More boundary breaches are identified when Griffin offers to stay overnight with a young female patient. Shortly after, he’s seen cuddling a pre-teen girl in a recliner. There are also documented reports that Griffin gives his number to a young girl and tells her to contact him outside the hospital.

2009: Griffin commits further boundary breaches. He’s told further complaints would be raised with the Director of Nursing. He commits another breach by offering to give away a former patient on her wedding day. He’s told this is inappropriate and then invited to contribute to a new policy on professional boundaries.

March 2009: Tasmania Police receives a report that Griffin has been taking photographs up the skirts of young girls while working as a medic on the Spirit of Tasmania. Griffin’s house is searched. Police records note he cleared his browser history daily and has a large number of photos of young girls. There’s no evidence LGH was notified.

April and May 2009: Griffin is counselled about his professional conduct after committing more instances of inappropriate contact with patients.

November 2009: The mother of a patient complains she’s uncomfortable with Griffin being around her child as other staff had described him as a “womaniser and a sleaze”. The mater does not progress.

2011: A hospital social worker tells HR that Griffin sexually abused her as a child. She says she’s told Griffin would be too hard to remove from the ward as a union delegate as “he’d make too much of a fuss” and that he can’t be suspended without a criminal conviction.

2011: The Department of Community Services receives an allegation from two parents who say they were molested by Griffin as children. Child Safety Services tells police, but declines to tell them who made the complaint.

2011-2012: Griffin sexually abuses Keelie McMahon, the daughter of a fellow 4K nurse.

May 2013: The mother of Tiffany Skeggs raises concerns with police about Griffin’s behaviour towards her daughter.

March 2015: Tasmania Police receives credible information that Griffin has been discussing child abuse and exploitation online. It appears no further action is taken.

2015: Griffin is directed not to sit on patient’s beds or hug them after a complaint about him “overstepping boundaries” with a psychiatric patient.

2017: Zoe Duncan dies after years of chronic illness, which her parents says was exacerbated by her sexual assault. She refuses treatment at LGH since the rape, losing trust in the institution that “never believed her”.

March 2017: A young female patient reports that Griffin calls her “baby” and “sweetheart”. Griffin receives another letter – his third warning – about his “professional boundaries”.

August 2017: Griffin is overheard discussing another nurse he calls “titsy” who he wants to “shag” with a group of young female patients. Nurse William Gordon raises a complaint on the hospital’s “SRLS” reporting system. Griffin is spoken to, but the matter is found to be unsubstantiated.

Late 2017: Griffin is seconded to Ashley Youth Detention Centre.

2018: Griffin seemingly sexually abuses an 11-year-old girl – who suffers from cerebral palsy, quadriplegia and is non-verbal – on ward 4K.

May 2019: Tiffany Skeggs reports Griffin’s abuse of her. Police undertake a full investigation.

July 31, 2019: Police advise LGH they’d found child abuse material, including pictures that appeared to have been taken at the hospital. Griffin is suspended from work, with pay, and his Working with Vulnerable People registration is also suspended.

September 3, 2019: Griffin is arrested and interviewed. Further victims come forward. Griffin is charged with a number of child sexual abuse offences.

October 2019: Nurse William Gordon makes a complaint to Tasmania’s Integrity Commission, expressing concern that evidence and documentation at the hospital had been destroyed. The Integrity Commission refers the complaint back to the Department of Health.

October 3, 2019: Griffin is granted bail.

October 19, 2019: Griffin dies by suicide.

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