Ashley Griffith committed ‘depraved’ abuse at childcare centres for nearly 20 years. Were warning signs ignored? | Queensland
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In 2021 the series pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith wrote a letter to parents of children at a Brisbane childcare center where he was appointed director addressing claims on social media that the center was “involved in a pedophile ring”.
“We want to reassure families that the well-being and safety of you and your family is of the utmost importance,” wrote Griffith, who had set up a camera on a tripod at the center so he could film his sexual abuse of young girls from two different angles.
“We take the protection of children extremely seriously.”
On Friday, Griffith was sentenced to life in prison for 307 sex crimes against 73 victims, mostly young girls between the ages of 3 and 5. Most of the offenses were committed while he was employed at children’s centers in Queensland between 2003. and 2022
Some victims and their families told the Queensland District Court they had trusted and grown close to Griffith; one mother said she had “we invited him to our homein our life and in our family”. Others are now questioning how, while Griffith’s abuse “escalated”, the warning signs were missed.
In 2021 Griffith was the director of a children’s center and notified authorities of an allegation that a colleague of his had inappropriately touched a young girl. Police investigated but took no action.
About six months later, police interviewed Griffith in connection with another revelation from a young girl. He then denied the allegations and was not charged.
At the beginning of 2022 Griffith moved to work at another center. There, a three-year-old girl made a disclosure that was investigated by police, who found it “did not meet the necessary threshold for a criminal investigation.” Griffith’s substitutions were overturned but he was not charged.
The Australian Federal Police eventually learned that all three girls had been abused by Griffith. He recorded himself sexually assaulting or raping them – and 70 others – over a period of almost 20 years.
Dark web user ‘Zimble’
Since 2013 authorities were looking for a man named “Zimble,” a dark web user who had uploaded child exploitation material to a now-defunct pedophile community. The server required users to upload content in order to access other material.
Zimble was briefly active in the community. He posted several videos and made comments advising others on how to abuse young girls. He said he acted in a way that sought “a balance between minimizing risks and seizing opportunities.”
Authorities spent nearly eight years searching the world for Zimble until the 2022 breakthrough. did not lead them to Griffith. They identified in one of his publications a type of blanket that had been sold to children’s centers in Queensland. They matched videos with locations and searched staff rosters. This takes them to his Gold Coast home in August 2022. and the discovery of multiple videos documenting his abuse.
Files on Griffith’s computer included class photos and records of children he had abused. In some cases, he linked videos together. The files are named according to the type of sexual activity depicted.
A psychiatrist told the court that Griffith had a “pedophilic disorder” and that he lacked empathy for victims.
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Summing up the psychiatric report, District Court Judge Paul Smith said Griffith “never tried to stop the criminal because he did not have the courage to do so”.
He said Griffith’s offending “was chronic and escalated over time”.
“Ignored the signs”
The court heard from more than a dozen people, including young women who were abused as girls and parents of more recent victims. Some have chosen never to tell their children that they were abused.
Some spoke of their anger at church organizations and childcare providers for failing to prevent the abuse.
Outside court on Friday, the victim’s father addressed reporters on behalf of the victims and said the sentence marked “the end of a long journey” that began in 2022 when the families were first notified of the abuse by the Australian Federal Police.
“There are businesses, staff and regulators who ignored the signs, who failed the reports and failed to supervise our children,” the man said.
“We hope the Ministry of Education will investigate these centers and find those responsible for their negligence. The community deserves to know that these people will never work with children again.”
Smith said Griffith was “depraved and at high risk of re-offending”. He sent a “letter of apology” to the victims and sat silent and emotionless for most of the hearing as members of the victims’ families wept in the gallery behind.
Griffith will be 71 when he is eligible for release from maximum-security Walston prison.
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