Paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith could have caught five times, report finds

This included two instances where Griffith kissed two girls in his care between 2018 and 2022.

Luke Twyford, chairman of the Child Fatalities Review Board, said there were 18 ways Griffith’s actions could have been detected by authorities, adding that Griffith had been made redundant from his jobs at five childcare centres.

“This is not someone who has escaped all the spotlight or visibility. Kids have talked about him, parents have talked about him, colleagues and center administrators have talked about him,” Twyford said.

“He was dismissed from his job more than five times. There was a police investigation into his conduct.” [and] early childhood regulatory investigations into their behavior.

“And none of this made any difference.

“This guy was finally caught because he uploaded photos to the dark web while he was living in Italy. There’s something wrong with our system.”

The 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended a reportable conduct plan. This was not agreed to by the State Labor government until June 2024.

The program won’t start until 2026.

“We are making a very loud and bold call for both the federal government and the Queensland government to transform protections for employers who want to turn someone away because they may pose a risk to children,” Twyford said.

“We don’t want the government to stand here and say it has accepted all the recommendations of the report.

“We ask them to read all 561 pages and take the time to deal with this issue in a very mature and thoughtful way and provide the people of Queensland with a holistic response to how they intend to keep children safe. Ultimately our community must be kept safer; everyone has a duty to keep children safe.”

Griffith is currently appealing his sentence.

More to come.

Support is available from: National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counseling Service From (1800RESPECT) 1800 737 732.