A major Queensland probe will investigate whether the previous state government failed to prevent Australia’s worst paedophile offending.
In November last year, Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty to more than 300 heinous sex crimes committed over two decades at daycares in Brisbane.
The Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) will investigate the Palaszcuk government’s failure to implement dozens of recommendations from a 2017 review.
Principal Commissioner Luke Twyford will receive special powers to access confidential police reports to investigate gaps in Queensland’s child protection system.
The review will investigate the timeline of Griffith’s offending to ‘understand what laws, policies, procedures and practices could or should have enabled earlier identification, investigation and prosecution’.
It will scour his employment history, residences, and any reports pertaining to his conduct at the 11 daycare centres he worked for in Brisbane.
‘As a first step, I will be seeking information from the Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police Service and our Department of Education, and that will enable us to produce a chronology of the offending that has occurred, including the places and the employers where the failures may need to be looked into,’ Mr Twyford said at a press conference on Tuesday.
‘I am particularly concerned about how we prevent child sexual exploitation in Australia, as well as how we identify, detect and respond to it, ensuring that our blue card system is part of a broader safeguarding system that includes reportable conduct and a child safety standard system, as recommended by the Royal Commission in 2017.’
Queensland Family and Child Commission principal commissioner Luke Twyford said he has been granted special powers to investigate the government’s handling of child safety
The disturbed predator filed an appeal to his life sentence in December, with lawyers arguing the paedophile’s punishment was manifestly excessive
Victims and their families are due to be invited to submit to the review and describe occasions where policy, procedure, legislation and government responses were inadequate or sluggish.
Griffiths pleaded guilty to 307 offences last year.
The offences included 28 counts of rape, 190 counts of indecently treating a child in his care, and 15 counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.
They also included 67 counts of making child-exploitation material and several various other offences dated to 2003.
In 2017, the Queensland government launched a Blue Card review after the killing of foster child Tiahleigh Palmer.
However, the government acted upon merely 56 of the report’s 81 recommendations.
The QFCC will determine whether the remaining recommendations would have impacted Mr Griffith’s ability to offend.
Queensland Premier David Crisfulli said the inquiry would identify system failings and deliver recommendations required to improve Queensland’s child protection system framework.
State Premier David Crisafulli said the final report would deliver recommendations to improve Queensland’s child protection framework
Victims’ parents said their first reports of Griffith’s offending fell on deaf ears
‘This Inquiry is what is needed to bring child protection weaknesses into the light and protect children from the danger lurking in the shadows,’ Premier Crisafulli said.
‘When parents drop their children off at childcare or school, they want to know that everything is being done to protect their kids.
‘We must leave no stone unturned in identifying weaknesses across government that are failing keeping children safe and implement the reform that’s urgently needed.’
Mr Twyford said the details of the eventual report will be made available to the public.
‘Our findings will be released publicly, and we will release public progress reports throughout the review period to ensure transparency and to provide the public with confidence in the process,’ he said.
Griffith abused 69 girls while working at Queensland daycares.
He was taken into custody in August 2022 after police were able to identify a Brisbane childcare centre from bedsheets seen in videos he had uploaded to the dark web in 2014.
Parents of kids at one childcare centre where he worked were furious and said they had raised concerns about him but were accused of sexism.
One mother said she complained about Griffith the first week he started at the centre.
‘He wasn’t wearing a uniform, didn’t introduce himself to parents and was just staring at the kids. I thought he must be one of the dads,’ she said.
But her complaint fell on deaf ears, with the owner allegedly accusing her of gender bias and asking if the centre was ‘the right place for you and your family’.
Griffith also boasted about his childcare experience and discussed how he helped children ‘develop their identities’ in a now-deleted online profile.
‘I love engaging children in meaningful experiences that inspire their play and learning,’ the paedophile wrote.
‘I am particularly fascinated by how children use creative languages such as drawing, building, painting and music to express themselves and develop their identity.’
At his sentencing in November last year, Judge Paul Smith imposed a life sentence with a non-parole period of 27 years and said Griffith was ‘depraved and has a high risk of reoffending’.
Griffith filed an appeal for the sentence on December 20 last year, as his lawyers argued his sentence was manifestly excessive.
He is also facing fresh charges in NSW, involving 23 alleged victims in Sydney.
