Grandmother who claimed she wanted to expose Ashley Paul Griffith as Australia’s worst paedophile is accused of computer hacking

A daycare manager behind the effort to expose one of Australia’s worst paedophiles is now fighting to clear her name after being accused of sharing confidential material.

Grandmother Yolanda Borucki is portrayed as a whistleblower whose actions could have put an end to Ashley Paul Griffith’s crimes against children nearly a year before he was finally caught.

Griffith pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Monday to 307 offences, including 28 counts of rape, 67 of making child exploitation material and 190 of indecently treating a child.

He also admitted to 15 counts of repeatedly abusing a child and seven counts of possessing and distributing child abuse material.

Australians were shocked when police revealed in August last year that the Gold Coast childcare worker, whose name was withheld at the time, had been charged with 1,623 offences against 91 girls.

Griffith committed all the crimes he recorded over a 15-year period, between 2007 and 2022, when he worked in 10 daycare centres in Brisbane, one in Sydney and one in Italy.

Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough told a news conference: “The AFP had no information from parents or other individuals prior to this man being arrested and charged.”

Three days later, Ms Borucki, 59, appeared on A Current Affair, claiming she was involved in reporting Griffith to police in October 2021 after a colleague saw him kissing a sleeping girl at a Brisbane daycare centre.

A daycare manager credited with exposing one of Australia’s worst paedophiles is now fighting to clear her own name after being accused of sharing confidential material. Yolanda Borucki is pictured outside court

Griffith was withdrawn while police investigated the allegations, which were not substantiated, and then returned to working with children.

The local detectives who investigated the complaint about Griffith had not searched his home or examined his electronic devices.

Griffith was arrested in August 2022, by which time he was alleged to have abused at least four more girls. However, the extent of his crimes was not made public until 12 months later.

The October 2021 complaint was not filed by Ms Borucki, but by another employee of the daycare operator, the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland.

Queensland Police confirmed that Ms Borucki was not the informant who tipped them off and that she was never a witness in the original investigation.

Ms. Borucki appeared on A Current Affair four days after she was fired by her former employer.

Six days after Ms Borucki told her story to the Nine program, the Uniting Church reported her to police after allegedly hacking into a computer to access confidential information.

Five days later, detectives from Task Force Argos, the specialist Queensland team that hunts down the state’s worst paedophiles, raided Ms Borucki’s home.

Yolanda Borucki was the manager of a chain of childcare centres in Brisbane, run by the Uniting Church of Australia, Queensland, when a colleague reported Ashley Paul Griffith (above) to police in October 2021 after he was seen kissing a sleeping girl

There they seized a number of electronic devices and subsequently accused Ms Borucki of computer hacking.

“It is alleged the woman unlawfully accessed confidential documents relating to her former employment at a Brisbane daycare centre and provided those documents to other individuals,” police said at the time.

“These documents allegedly contain the private information of children who were allegedly victims of abuse, their families and a male individual who allegedly committed sexual crimes against those children while in his care at the childcare center in question.”

That person was Griffith, who was not identified until October 3 last year, when a change in Queensland law allowed the names of accused rapists to be released.

“It is alleged that these documents were accessed and released after he was charged,” police said. “The affected families have been notified and are receiving ongoing support.”

Police allege Ms Borucki hacked into the computer on August 3, three days after she was fired, while still in possession of a work laptop and phone.

Since Griffith’s crimes were made public a year ago, Ms. Borucki has been repeatedly portrayed as a whistleblower who tried unsuccessfully to expose him.

A Facebook page set up by her supporters is filled with comments describing her as a hero who should never have been charged with computer hacking.

Members of Task Force Argos, whose gruelling work has been internationally praised since the unit’s creation in 1997, have been pilloried for denouncing her.

Australians were shocked last August when police revealed that Griffith, who could not be named at the time, had been charged with 1,623 offences against 91 girls. He is pictured in a court sketch drawn on Monday

“Argos is very upset about all the reporting on this,” a police source said. “It’s really tough for them. They do an incredible job.

‘If they receive a complaint about computer hacking, they have a duty as police officers to investigate.’

Daily Mail Australia asked Queensland police a series of questions about the role Ms Borucki played in the October 2021 investigation into Griffith.

‘(Mrs. Borucki) “is not listed as an informant or witness in the said complaint lodged with Queensland Police,” a spokesperson responded.

The Uniting Church was unable to comment on the hacking allegation against Ms Borucki, but said it was responsible for reporting Griffith to police.

“In October 2021, the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland filed a complaint with Queensland Police,” a spokeswoman said.

‘We responded quickly and fully cooperated with the investigation.

‘We are committed to the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable people, and we share the horrors of our community when a child is injured.

“We cannot comment further on the case, Ms Borucki, as it is still before the court.”

Ms Borucki brought a wrongful dismissal action against the Uniting Church in the Fair Work Division of the Federal Court, but she dropped the case in June.

Griffith became a target of the AFP in August 2022 when officers traced a bedspread seen in images and videos on the dark web to a Brisbane daycare centre where he had worked.

Griffith pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Monday to 307 child sex offences. The parents of one of his victims are pictured outside court

Detectives seized Griffith’s electronic equipment and began examining nearly 4,000 images and videos he had taken, viewed and shared with other paedophiles.

Ms Borucki is due to appear in Brisbane District Court on November 25 for a hearing.

She told Daily Mail Australia she could not comment on the hacking charges, or on the reporting of her role in Griffith to police or on other matters relating to her previous employment.

“We’ll see what happens in November,” said Ms Borucki.

Griffith will be back in court in Brisbane on September 9 to discuss setting a date for sentencing.