Gold Coast man Ashley Paul Griffith, 45, is facing more than 1,600 child sex offences, including rape and indecent treatment of a child, stemming from a major Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation.
Who is Ashley Paul Griffith?
Police allege the offences were committed between 2007 and 2022 while Mr Griffith was working in 10 childcare centres in Brisbane, one in Sydney and one overseas.
Mr Griffith has been in custody in Queensland since August, 2022, when the AFP arrested and charged him on two counts of making child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service for child abuse material.
Within hours, further alleged child abuse material was discovered on his electronic devices, the AFP said.
What are the charges against Gold Coast childcare workers?
The AFP alleges Mr Griffith recorded all the offences, which were against pre-pubescent girls, on his phone and cameras.
He has been charged with 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.
The matter was briefly mentioned in court on August 21, with Crown prosecutor Steven Dickson requesting an adjournment until January due to the ‘voluminous’ nature of the case material.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Anthony Gett said he would not adjourn the matter to January.
‘I still want to bring it back to see how it’s going, I don’t want to adjourn for such a long time … that’s five months away,’ he said.
Mr Griffith’s lawyer made no application for bail.
The case will be heard in court again on November 6.
