The parents of girls raped by one of Australia's worst pedophiles want an investigation into how childcare centres “betrayed” them by not detecting his depravity for almost two decades.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, has been sentenced to life imprisonment over hundreds of sex offences against almost 70 girls while working in Queensland's childcare industry.
He pleaded guilty to 28 counts of rape against girls primarily aged three to five at childcare centres in the state between 2007 and 2022.
Brisbane District Court Judge Paul Smith imposed a non-parole period of 27 years on Friday, saying 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.
Dozens of parents of victims and some of the victims themselves, now young adults, were in court for the sentencing.
Some parents yelled obscenities at Griffith as he was taken back into custody, telling him to “burn in hell”.
Outside court, one mother welcomed the sentence, but felt anger at Griffith and the childcare centres which employed him.
“We feel we have had some justice,” she said.
“When she is older I will be able to tell her (Griffith) got put into prison for life because of the actions of incredible Australian Federal Police agents.”
The mother said she now distrusted the systems meant to protect children.
“I have a lot of a sense of betrayal … There were so many victims at our centre. It just goes to show the level of negligence.”
A father who spoke outside court thanked prosecutors and called for an investigation into the childcare centres.
“There are businesses, staff and regulators who ignored the signs. They didn’t follow through on reports and failed to supervise our children,” he said.
“We hope the department of education thoroughly investigates these centres.”
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli described the crimes as "chilling", acknowledging more needed to be done to protect children.
“The fact that systems were so fragile that our most vulnerable were put in harm's way shows why we have to do so much better in protecting the most vulnerable," he told reporters after the sentencing.
Griffith pleaded guilty to 307 offences, including ongoing sexual abuse and making child exploitation material, against 65 victims aged one to nine beginning in 2003.
The judge said Griffith filmed all but one victim as he sexually assaulted them and there was a chance the videos he shared with others would “live forever on the internet”.
He said Griffith could be heard in the videos mocking victims after they complained his abuse was “yucky” and told him to stop.
Judge Smith said Griffith initially denied committing any offence, but later made admissions during police interviews while still downplaying his crimes.
“There was co-operation in identifying victims … the defendant did not identify any victims not captured on video,” he said.
The judge said Griffith uploaded six videos to a site on the dark web where he was a “VIP user” and instructed other pedophiles on how to sexually assault children.
The judge listened for two hours on Thursday as three victims and 20 parents read their impact statements.
The victims said their lives were shattered, while parents said they felt “irrevocable pain and guilt”.
"There is no doubt there has been significant effects on many people. There has been significant harm that will continue," Judge Smith said.
He said Griffith used “a degree of violence and emotional manipulation” to enable his abuse.
He has been in custody since August 2022, when Queensland Police and AFP officers searched his Gold Coast home, and will be eligible for parole in August 2049.
Griffith is also subject to an arrest warrant for child sex offences allegedly committed while working in NSW between 2014 and 2018.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
