Arabic version: عامل سابق في رعاية الأطفال يواجه 202 تهمة إساءة في نيو ساوث ويلز
According to ABC News, former Sydney childcare centre worker Ashley Paul Griffith has been charged with 202 child abuse offences in New South Wales. Police allege the offences involved 23 children and occurred while he worked in Sydney’s inner west between July 2014 and December 2017.
The 48-year-old Queensland man was extradited from Queensland to NSW on Wednesday and arrested at Silverwater Correctional Facility on Friday morning. The allegations concern children aged between one and five.
The charges include 68 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10, 42 counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child under 10, 23 counts of producing child abuse material, and aggravated indecent assault relating to children.
NSW Police said its State Crime Command Child Abuse Squad and the Australian Federal Police had investigated the Sydney allegations since November 2022. The investigation involved forensic examination of thousands of digital files and extensive victim-identification inquiries.
Griffith is serving a life sentence in Queensland after admitting offences against 69 girls at early learning centres in Brisbane and Italy over two decades. In NSW bail court on Friday, legal aid lawyer Bethany Burns did not apply for bail, which was formally refused. Judge Daniel Covington adjourned the matter until January.
