How childcare worker’s vile acts went unnoticed

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

A former childcare worker who performed and filmed “abhorrent” sexual acts on young girls in his care for his own “selfish reasons” had spent years hiding in plain sight while avoiding detection, a court has been told.

Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, was sentenced to life in prison with a non parole period of 27 years in Brisbane District Court on Friday.

Griffith previously pleaded guilty to all 307 charges related to the sexual abuse of children in his care while he worked in childcare in Queensland and in Italy, with some offences dating as far back to 2003.

Those charges included 190 counts of indecent treatment of children, 67 counts of making child exploitation material, 28 counts of rape, 15 counts of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child, four counts of producing child exploitation material, one count of distributing child exploitation material, one count of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child pornography material.

The vile and ‘depraved’ acts

The court was told Griffith had targeted girls in his care aged two to seven while they slept or played with him while at their childcare centre.

“This was very serious offending in terms of length and scale,” Judge Paul Smith said in his sentencing remarks.

“The victims were very vulnerable and there was a significant breach of trust.

“People expect their children will be protected in childcare centres.”

Griffith’s offending spanned throughout his career in childcare, from 2003 up until his arrest in 2022.

Griffith was arrested after Australian Federal Police found evidence he had filmed or photographed himself sexually abusing victims – all young girls – while he was working at childcare centres in Queensland.

The court was told the police had discovered several videos online and were able to identify a blanket specifically sold to certain childcare centres in Queensland which led them to tracking down Griffith in 2022.

Griffith was initially arrested and charged with two counts of making child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service for child pornography material in August 2022.

AFP officers later charged him with 1400 additional charges after more child abuse material was found on devices belonging to Griffith a year later.

Griffith initially denied the allegations made against him but later helped police identify nearly 70 victims he’d filmed and photographed “for selfish reasons” while working in multiple childcare centres.

The court was told Griffith had meticulously categorised and labelled his videos, many which included him raping or performing sexual acts with the girls, on his computer.

Griffith had told police this was a way for him to easily find a video he wanted to watch.

The court was told he would watch his own videos every few days for his own sexual gratification.

How a monster went undetected

In reality, the childcare worker so many families had entrusted with their children to keep them safe had breached their trust in the most abhorrent of ways.

But what many parents are still coming to terms with is how was he able to get away with it for nearly 20 years.

The court was told on Friday Griffith had sexually abused multiple innocent victims across many childcare centres he worked in.

Prior to his sentencing, Griffith told a psychiatrist his desire to sexually assault young girls “snowballed” as he was given more opportunities to get closer to his victims through his line of work.

The court was told Griffith had preferred girls aged between two and five years old “because they were easier targets … but he was attracted to children up to 12-13” years old.

The court was told Griffith at times had deleted all of his videos and photographs because “he hated himself for what he was doing” but then would download all of the child abuse material again.

Griffith had confessed he’d moved regularly between jobs in order to avoid detection.

However, on two occasions he was questioned by police and his employers after complaints were made about him, with one girl alleging he’d touched her inappropriately.

The court was told that ultimately no charges were ever laid against Griffith until he was arrested in 2022.

On one occasion, when a colleague of Griffith’s was accused of sexually abusing a child at the centre they both worked, Griffith opted to write a letter to parents explaining that all staff were held to the highest of standards when it comes to children’s safety.

“Please be advised we are taking this issue very seriously and are currently seeking legal advice to be considered,” Griffith said in his letter, the court was told.

“We want to reassure families that the safety of you and your family are of paramount importance to the centre and we take child protection extremely seriously.

“All employed staff undergo rigorous screening through the Blue Card system which include a police and criminal history check.

“All staff also undertake yearly training in child protection as mandated by legislation.”

The court was told Griffith had later informed police he was the one who had been abusing the child and believed the girl had just gotten the staff members mixed up.

Distraught parents seek answers

The court was told many of the victims and their families were unaware of the abuse by Griffiths until the AFP contacted them asking them to identify the girls in his pictures.

While the families are relieved “justice has been served” and Griffiths won’t be able to harm any more girls, many are left questioning how he was allowed to get away with his vile behaviour for so long.

One father, who cannot be identified, said he was upset so many childcare centres “ignored the signs” and he believed they had failed their children.

“We hope the Department of Education thoroughly investigates these centres and holds those responsible accountable for their negligence,” he said.

“The community deserves to know that these people will never work with children again.

“There obviously needs to be changed to better protect children in care.

“We implore those in positions of power and influence to have the courage to enact the leanings from this tragedy to a systematic failure like this is never allowed to happen again.”

Another mother said she’s been betrayed by the childcare centre she entrusted her daughter’s safety with.

“Our centre was the one at the end there and there were so many victims and so many maintaining charges at our centre,” she said.

“It just really goes to show the level of negligence at our centre.

“There’s a distrust in the system, there’s a distrust in policies that are supposed to protect our kids.

“Most of all is the betrayal of when you send your kids somewhere and he’s just been doing what he’s done to your child and to find our retrospectively that he’s looking at you and saying ‘she’s having a great day’ and he’s just been raping her.

“It’s hard to separate the anger I feel at the child care centre and the anger I feel at him, they’re very intertwined.

“The didn’t prevent him from doing what he did.

“Our centre knew about it. They had the reports made so it’s heartbreaking that in my opinion they were trying to cover their own reputation instead of the safety and wellbeing of these little girls who are going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives.”

The mother said people need to listen and not be “complacent anymore”.

“When an allegation is made it needs to be made so seriously,” she said.

“We were so lucky as parents, and it’s a weird way to say, but every facet of his offending was caught on camera.

“What about those victims that it’s not recorded.

“What about all those victims who speak up but hey don’t get believed.

“For us it’s been a path that’s not been too challenging in that sense that we didn’t have to justify anything or prove anything because he recorded everything.

“But there are other offenders out there and we need to believe people who come forward who say something.”