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A childcare worker accused of sexually abusing 91 young girls across Brisbane and Sydney can now be identified as Ashley Paul Griffith.
Griffith, 45, from the Gold Coast, was charged last year with more than 1600 offences, including rape and indecent treatment of children.
Police allege the offences were committed across 10 Brisbane childcare centres between 2007 and 2013, and from 2018 to 2022, and a centre in Sydney between 2014 and 2017.
Media outlets were previously unable to publish the identity of people accused of sexual assault crimes until they had been committed to stand trial.
But following changes to Queensland’s Sexual Offences Act, which came into effect on Tuesday, those accused can be identified unless a suppression order is in place.
Detectives said they were able to track down Griffith as the alleged offender after they identified a set of bedsheets in the background of videos on the dark web.
The sheets were traced by detectives to a manufacturer that supplied childcare centres in Queensland.
Earlier this year, the Australian Federal Police said the accused had all the necessary qualifications for his job as a childcare worker, but his alleged offending, stretching back to 2007, went undetected.
In August, Griffith’s matter was heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, where the prosecution said police were awaiting further evidence from overseas witnesses.
Griffith’s case was scheduled in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for November 6.
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