A childcare worker who admitted to hundreds of sexual offences against girls is to face sentencing after a prosecutor argued that victims’ families should not be kept waiting.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty on September 2 in the Brisbane District Court to more than 300 child sex offences, including 28 counts of rape, as well as continuous sexual abuse and production of child exploitation material.
He admitted committing offences against several children while working at childcare centres in Brisbane between January 2003 and August 2022.
Griffith’s case was mentioned Monday to set a sentencing date, which is likely to take two days because of the number of family members who can read their victim impact statements in court.
Defence lawyer Sarah Cartledge told Judge Leanne Clare she was concerned that the court-ordered psychiatric report on Griffith might not be ready in time for possible sentencing dates in November.
“There is a lot of information for the psychiatrist and the report itself will be long,” Cartledge said.
“It’s not an easy task. It’s an important case. Psychiatric reports take time and this is a complex case.”
Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on September 2 to more than 300 child sex offences, including 28 counts of rape, as well as continuous sexual abuse and making child exploitation material.
Griffith’s case was mentioned Monday to set a date for his sentencing, which will likely take two days because of the number of family members who can read their victim impact statements in court.
Ms Cartledge said Griffith had pleaded guilty and was in custody so there was no reason, from the defence’s perspective, to withhold sentencing before January 2025.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher said she wanted to complete the sentence before the end of the year.
“There are 65 victims and 65 families who are anxiously awaiting a verdict. November still gives us enough time. There is no indication that the report is not ready,” he said.
Judge Clare on Monday set a sentencing date for Griffith for November 28-29 and adjourned the matter.
Griffith was arrested in August 2022 by the Australian Federal Police and originally charged with more than 1,000 offences against 91 girls, but hundreds of charges were later dropped.
In September he pleaded guilty to 190 counts of indecent treatment of children under 12 while in care, 67 counts of taking indecent photographs and videos of children and 15 counts of repeated sexual abuse of a child.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Service for Support and Reparation in Cases of Sexual Abuse 1800 211 028
