Police found photos of child Launceston General Hospital patients on Griffin’s phone

Photos of children at the Launceston General Hospital were found on the phone of notorious child sexual abuser, James Geoffrey Griffin.

The lead Detective responsible for the James Griffin investigation has revealed he found a file on the nurse’s mobile phone entitled “ward 4K” – replete with images he’d taken of young patients on the children’s ward.

Detective Senior Constable Glenn Hindle, giving evidence before the commission of inquiry on Wednesday, asked the hospital to establish a panel of staff at the hospital, showing them “sanitised” versions of the pictures to identify who the victims were.

It came after he moved to have Griffin’s Working with Vulnerable People registration suspended, meaning he was unable to continue working at the hospital while under investigation.

When he executed a search warrant on Griffin’s address on July 31, 2019, he knew he had enough material to have him stood down.

At the time, he met with director of medical services Peter Renshaw and a member of the hospital’s human resources team, telling them he’d found child exploitation material on Griffin’s phone.

He wasn’t able to do a full download of Griffin’s phone initially, in case it altered the data and contaminated evidence.

But when he did later that year, Detective Hindle discovered Griffin had been taking exploitation images of children on the ward.

“I contacted Dr Renshaw’s office and asked that he form a panel of staff that had been available or present on the ward … with a view to identifying the children that might be in the photos,” he told the inquiry.

“I sanitised the photos down to a point where they could be put in front of a member of the public, namely just leaving facial images and such that they could look at and recognise.”

Detective Hindle said some victims were identified immediately, while further research was conducted to identify the others.

He also said it was “disappointing” that Griffin had been given access to his locker by a staff member the same day he’d had his Working with Vulnerable People registration suspended, and had been stood down from duty.

“It was my intention to go down and search his locker at his workplace … our intentions were undermined,” Detective Hindle said.

Police Commissioner sorry for failing Griffin victims

TASMANIA Police Commissioner Darren Hine has apologised that victim-survivors were let down by the force – through its investigative failures and missed opportunities to stop serial sexual abuser James Griffin.

Commissioner Hine, along with Detective Senior Constable Glenn Hindle, were questioned by the commission of inquiry on Wednesday about a number of occasions prior to Griffin’s 2019 arrest in which police were notified about the paedophile’ behaviours.

Commissioner Hine read from a prepared statement, apologising for the failings of Tasmania Police.

“It has been confronting to hear the impacts that Griffin’s offending has had on the lives of victim-survivors and their families, and even more confronting to know there are opportunities where we could have put a stop to the offending,” he said.

He said when he became aware Tasmania Police had information reports about Griffin’s behaviour dating back to 2009, “we immediately undertook a review”, releasing a report outlining “where our responses did not meet the standards I or the community expect or deserve”.

“I want to assure the community that we’ve taken significant steps to improve how we respond to information reports, how we share information, and how we educate, train and support our members in responding to victim-survivors,” Commissioner Hine said.

Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine. Picture: Chris Kidd

2000: The sold computer

A man contacts Tasmania Police, raising concerns a computer he purchased from Tasmania Police contains child exploitation material. The matter is not investigated until the man contacts police again the following year.

On Wednesday, Detective Hindle explained the computer was forensically examined interstate, but the material found – images of children in bikinis – is not illegal material.

2009: Upskirting on the Spirit of Tasmania

Tasmania Police receives a notification that Griffin has been taking pictures up the skirts of young girls while working as a medic on the Spirit of Tasmania.

Detective Hindle confirmed on-duty officers responded to the complaint, conducting a search warrant at Griffin’s address and finding no corroborating material.

2011: Disclosure by Kylee Pearn

Launceston General Hospital social worker Kylee Pearn has an off-the-record conversation with a police officer, telling them she told the hospital’s HR department she was abused by Griffin as a child. Ms Pearn also says HR tells her Griffin can’t be removed from the children’s ward without a criminal conviction. She doesn’t make a formal complaint, but understands that if anyone comes forward in the future, there would be a record of the disclosure by her and another victim-survivor.

Detective Hindle confirmed no record was kept.

2011: Referral by Child and Family Services

Child and Family Services tells Tasmania Police about historical abuse allegations by Griffin, but does not reveal the identify of the person involved. Police don’t follow the matter up as “there were no lines of inquiry that could be followed up”.

Commissioner Hine admitted this was a “lost opportunity” – the investigator should have asked more questions and looked at the police intelligence system, which would have revealed previous concerns about Griffin. “That was one of the reasons for the apology that I made,” Commissioner Hine said.

2013: Tiffany Skeggs notification

A report is made to police about Griffin’s behaviour towards Tiffany Skeggs. A Child and Family Services officer speaks to both Ms Skeggs and Griffin, but the matter is not taken further.

Commissioner Hine said the complaint wasn’t dealt with appropriately. “The fact there were no further checks undertaken, the matter was dealt with by a CFS worker and written off in relation to the advice of the CFS worker and we didn’t go back and investigate – it wasn’t acceptable then, it isn’t acceptable now,” he said. “We definitely have let the victim-survivor down, which I apologise for and we should have done better.”

2015: Griffin discusses child exploitation online

Tasmania Police receives “credible information” that Griffin has been discussing child abuse and child sexual exploitation online. This material is collated by the Australian Federal Police, which notifies Tasmania Police. But Tasmania Police doesn’t take any further action due to a “misfiling” error.

“It was filed inappropriately,” Commissioner Hine. “It wasn’t done out of malice, it was done out of not paying the particular attention. Again, that’s not acceptable.”

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