The parents of one of the dozens of young girls raped by a childcare worker say the system is broken and they cannot understand how he was allowed to commit countless crimes with impunity for years in a “room of horrors”.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Monday to more than 300 child sex offences, including 28 counts of rape, as well as continuous sexual abuse and making child abuse material.
Griffith committed the crimes in daycare centres in various suburbs of Brisbane, over a period of more than 19 years.
The parents of one of the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, spoke outside court after Griffith spent more than two hours entering his pleas to each individual charge.
“We definitely feel there is something wrong with the system,” said the victim’s father.
“How someone like him can get away with this for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s being run as effectively as it could be.”
The victim’s mother said she wanted to stand outside the daycare where her daughter was attacked to warn other parents
“It happened to my child in that room. It’s a room full of horrors,” she said.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Monday to more than 300 child sex offences, including 28 counts of rape, as well as persistent sexual abuse and making child abuse material.
The mother said no action was taken on her complaint about Griffith’s behaviour in 2018 and accused the centre of being “run like a business, not a place that cares for children”.
Griffith appeared in court Monday and entered a guilty plea as the charges were read to Judge Anthony Rafter. The courtroom was packed with victims’ families and investigators.
He admitted to committing offences against multiple children while working in daycare centres in Brisbane between January 2003 and August 2022.
Wearing a striped polo shirt and jeans, the Gold Coast resident stood for two hours as hundreds of charges were read out.
Griffith was arrested by Australian Federal Police in August 2022 and originally charged with more than 1,000 offences against 91 young girls, but hundreds of charges were later dropped.
He pleaded guilty to 190 charges of indecent exposure of children under the age of 12 while acting as a caregiver, 67 charges of making indecent photographs and videos of children, and 15 charges of repeated sexual abuse of a child.
Griffith also admitted seven counts of possessing child exploitation material and distributing the material outside Australia to locations in Italy.
Prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told Judge Rafter that the pre-sentence report and psychiatric evaluation would be completed in November.
“It would be appropriate to allow (the sentencing) to last two days… There are many victims in this case and family members who I suspect will be interested in providing impact statements,” Ms Gallagher said.
Judge Rafter said he would take this into account because ‘sometimes we are asked to read out material about the impact of victims’.
The parents of one of the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, spoke outside court after Griffith spent more than two hours making his pleas to each individual charge
Defence lawyer Sarah Cartledge argued that sentencing should be deferred for at least a month after the reports were provided.
“The defense has taken active steps to ensure that this case is expedited. Delaying sentencing for another month is not a significant delay,” she said.
Judge Rafter adjourned the case until September 9 to discuss a date for sentencing.
Griffith did not apply for bail and was remanded into custody.
Outside the courtroom, the parents of one of the victims welcomed the guilty plea, saying it would allow them to move on to the next step.
The father was relieved that the guilty plea was spared a trial, because “it would have been terrible if he had not pleaded guilty.”
The mother said the evidence against Griffith was overwhelming and she was grateful she did not have to endure the added trauma of a trial.
“The idea that he could see the photos of all these children again (at his trial) would be heartbreaking.”
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
Child Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for persons aged 5 to 25)
