A serial paedophile, considered Australia’s worst, raped a girl at a nursery shortly after being told he would lose his job there.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 45, pleaded guilty this month in Brisbane District Court to 307 charges relating to child abuse and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 28 and 29.
Court records indicate that in the weeks after Yolanda Borucki, the operations manager at the United Church daycare, told Griffith his position had been terminated, he submitted a letter of resignation, emailed parents to inform them and then sexually assaulted a new victim at the center, the report says. The Australian.
Five of the 307 charges against Griffith relate to the rape, abuse and recording of a child between March 23 and April 1, 2022, listed as having occurred in the same suburb where the daycare is located.
Griffith was informed he had been fired earlier that month, on March 14, tendered his resignation on March 23 and sent an email to his parents on March 31.
Shockingly, five months before her firing, a co-worker at the daycare had raised the alarm after seeing Griffith kneeling over a sleeping girl in an outdoor fort, his face two inches from hers.
She said it looked like he was “kissing” the girl and the worker’s instinct was that she wanted to “save” her. She said Griffith became angry when she interrupted him.
The matter was reported to the police, who investigated while the centre’s management conducted its own investigation.
Ashley Paul Griffith, 45, (pictured), pleaded guilty to 307 charges in a Queensland court and will next appear in a New South Wales court on further charges.
Neither investigation resulted in any action as Griffith had not technically been seen touching the girl, prompting the distraught co-worker to quit her job.
Although both investigations exonerated him, five months later an email was sent to the church’s then general secretary, the Rev. Heather den Houting, with the subject line “Request for dismissal.”
The email from the church’s then-executive director of people, culture and learning, Grant Weaver, said enrollment had declined at the center and suggested a restructuring that would eliminate Griffith’s role.
The general secretary replied “go ahead” and Mr. Weaver informed Ms. Borucki and another manager by email that the dismissal was “approved.”
Yolanda Borucki (pictured) was the United Church’s nursery manager. She informed Griffith that her position had been terminated in March 2022.
In August 2022, Griffith was arrested and charged with two counts of making child exploitation material and one count of using a child pornography transportation service.
Following the seizure of his electronic equipment, he was charged with hundreds of charges allegedly committed against 91 children.
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan has ordered a new internal investigation into how the earlier allegations were initially handled.
QPS investigated the complaint from October 2021 and another from April 2022 but found there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal offence.
In a statement, the QPS confirmed that both were subject to an “internal review” by a senior independent detective with significant experience in child protection.
“This review found that both investigations had been carried out in accordance with QPS policy and concurred with the original findings that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a criminal offence based on what was known at the time,” a spokeswoman said.
‘Following further information and evidence was identified as part of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Operation Tenterfield, the AFP executed a search warrant at the man’s residence in August 2022.’
He was sent back to District Court in early 2024 on a greatly reduced 320-count indictment.
The victims’ families attended the Brisbane District Court (pictured) this month for the hearing.
Griffith pleaded guilty to 307 charges including 190 counts of indecent treatment of children, 67 counts of producing child exploitation material and 28 counts of rape.
There are also 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 possession of child exploitation material and one count of using a transportation service to access child pornography material.
The charges cover offences committed at childcare centres across the Brisbane region, as well as in Pisa, Italy.
Once the case is finalised, he will face a court in New South Wales on a further set of charges relating to alleged offences in that state.
Griffith is alleged to have filmed his abuse of girls (all believed to be prepubescent) working at 10 childcare centres in Brisbane between 2007 and 2013 and between 2018 and 2022.
Police say other offences took place at a location in Europe between 2013 and 2014 and at a Sydney centre between 2014 and 2017.
Griffith has worked at other daycare centers, but is not accused of committing any crimes while working there.