Life term for ‘depraved and violent’ childcare rapist

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One of Australia’s worst paedophiles has been jailed for life for hundreds of sex offences he committed over the course of 19 years while working in childcare centres.

Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, returned to the dock in Brisbane District Court on Friday for the completion of his sentencing hearing.

He has pleaded guilty to 28 counts of rape against girls primarily aged three to five at childcare centres in Queensland between 2007 and 2022.

Ashley Paul Griffith has been sentenced to life in prison.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Judge Paul Smith imposed a non-parole period of 27 years and said Griffith was “depraved and has a high risk of reoffending”.

“People expect their children will be protected in childcare centres and this will be a concern to every parent in this state,” he said.

Griffith pleaded guilty to 307 offences including ongoing sexual abuse and making child exploitation material against nearly 70 victims beginning in 2003.

The judge said the youngest victim was a one-year-old and the oldest was aged seven to nine.

Dozens of parents of victims and some of the victims themselves, now young adults, were in court to watch the sentencing.

They sat a short distance behind Griffith, separated from him by a wall of unbreakable glass.

Smith said Griffith had filmed all but one of the 65 victims as he sexually assaulted them and there was a chance the videos he shared with others would “live forever on the internet”.

“The children were awake or asleep ... he frequently gave them an iPad to distract them,” he said.

Smith said Griffith could be heard in the videos he made mocking victims for saying his abuse was “yucky” and telling him to stop.

The judge said Griffith had initially denied committing any offence but later made admissions during 13 police interviews while still downplaying the number of victims and seriousness of the sexual assaults.

“There was co-operation in identifying victims and the location of offending … the defendant did not identify any victims not captured on video,” Smith said.

Director of Public Prosecutions Todd Fuller previously said Griffith had uploaded videos of himself abusing six children to a dark web in order to gain access to child exploitation material from other members of a website.

Smith said Griffith was made a “VIP user” on the website and wrote comments to other paedophiles advising them on how to sexually assault children.

The judge listened for two hours on Thursday as three victims and 20 parents of victims read their impact statements.

The victims said their lives were shattered by finding out Griffith sexually assaulted them as toddlers and young girls.

The parents said they felt “irrevocable pain and guilt” over trusting Griffith to care for their children.

“There is no doubt there has been significant effects on many people. There has been significant harm that will continue,” the judge said.

Smith said Griffith had used “a degree of violence and emotional manipulation” to enable his abuse.

Griffith has been in custody for 831 days since his arrest in August 2022, when police searched his Gold Coast home.

He will be eligible for parole in 2049.

Griffith is also subject to an arrest warrant for child sex offences allegedly committed while working in NSW between 2014 and 2018.

If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au), 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.

AAP