Notorious Australian pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith pleads guilty to sexually abusing dozens of girls

Ashley Paul Griffith, a 46-year-old former childcare worker from the Gold Coast, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of girls, making him one of Australia’s most notorious pedophiles. Griffith faced 307 charges in a Brisbane court on Monday, with several victims and their families present for the hearing. The charges, which took Judge Anthony Rafter more than two hours to read out, relate to about 60 children, many of whom were under the age of 12, in Griffith’s care.

Griffith was first arrested in 2022 for creating child abuse content. The following year, he was charged with 1,623 felonies against 91 children. However, some of the charges were later dropped, and the charges discussed during Monday’s hearing involved about 60 children.

The offences took place between 2003 and 2022 at 12 different locations in Australia, and in Pisa, Italy. Griffith is currently in custody and will be sentenced at a later date. The court expects the sentencing to take more than two days due to the time needed to read victim impact statements.