Monster childcare pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith appeals life sentence for heinous abuse of young girls

Monster childcare pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith is appealing his life sentence for the heinous abuse of young children in his care on the grounds it is “manifestly excessive”. The bombshell twist comes less than two months after Griffith, a former childcare worker who was dubbed one of Australia’s worst pedophiles, was sentenced on 307 charges related to the sexual abuse of children. He had pleaded guilty to 190 counts of indecent treatment of children, 67 counts of making child exploitation material, 28 counts of rape, 15 counts of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child, four counts of producing child exploitation material, one count of distributing child exploitation material, one count of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child pornography material. It is understood Griffith’s legal team first lodged the appeal on December 20 last year. No date for the appeal has been set. Griffith, 46, was handed a term of life imprisonment in November last year following a two-day sentencing where details of his horrific acts were laid bare in court. Families of the children who were preyed upon by him packed out Brisbane District Court as judge Paul Smith ordered Griffith serve at least 27 years before being eligible for parole. By that time, Griffith will be 71. “This was very serious offending in terms of length and scale,” Judge Smith said. Watch the arrest footage of monster pedophile Ashley Paul Griffiths. “The victims were very vulnerable and there was a significant breach of trust. “People expect their children will be protected in childcare centres.” The court was told Griffith’s offending spanned throughout his career in childcare and occurred at childcare centres in Brisbane from 2003 up until his arrest in 2022. Some even occurred in Italy. Police found more than 600 images and more than 1800 videos on Griffith’s electronic devices that had been filmed and categorised in horrifying detail to allow him to easily view the footage at his whim. He targeted girls aged between two and seven years old, with the majority of the victims being aged between 3-5 years. “The offending happened over a lengthy period,” Judge Smith said during sentencing. “It involved many victims, many of the victims were very young and very vulnerable. “There was a significant breach of trust.” Griffith is also yet to face court in NSW on another 180 offences that allegedly occurred against victims in Sydney.