A former childcare worker in Australia has confessed to sexually abusing numerous girls in what is considered one of the most severe paedophile cases in the nation’s history.
On Monday, Ashley Paul Griffith pleaded guilty to a staggering 307 charges related to his misconduct with children under his care. These charges include 28 counts of rape, 90 counts of indecent treatment, and 67 counts of producing child exploitation material.
Ashley Paul Griffith, a former childcare worker, has admitted to sexually abusing approximately 60 children, many of whom were under 12, at childcare centers in Australia and Italy over a period exceeding 19 years.
During a District Court session in Brisbane, the judge’s associate spent over two hours reading out the 307 charges against Griffith, who appeared emotionless as he pleaded guilty to every count, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Griffith, 46, was initially arrested in 2022 and charged with multiple offenses related to child exploitation material. Subsequently, prosecutors filed over 1,600 charges against him involving 91 girls. However, most of these charges were dropped before Monday’s court proceedings.
New South Wales state police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald described the case as “one of the most horrific cases of alleged child abuse our detectives have seen.” The investigation into Griffith began after a collection of child exploitation images and videos was discovered on the dark web in 2014.
Authorities had been searching for Griffith since then, culminating in his arrest and the extensive legal proceedings that followed.
