It’s been almost a decade since Sarah’s* one-year-old daughter was allegedly sexually abused by notorious childcare paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith.
Despite video evidence of his alleged abuse, his admission of guilt to abusing Queensland children, and police identifying nearly two dozen alleged NSW victims, Griffith has yet to be extradited to face charges for 180 offences committed while employed at a Sydney daycare centre.
Griffith is serving a life sentence in a Queensland prison, with a 27-year non-parole period, after pleading guilty to 307 state and federal charges involving 69 girls, including rape, making, possessing and distributing child exploitation material, sexual abuse and indecent treatment.
In January last year, he lodged an appeal against his sentence on the grounds it was manifestly excessive, halting his extradition.
Sarah’s daughter was identified in 2023 as one of his alleged NSW victims. The 22 other girls were aged between one and five at the time of the alleged abuse between 2014 and 2017 at the centre in Sydney’s inner west, which cannot be named for legal reasons. Sarah’s daughter was among the youngest.
Now, Sarah and her family risk waiting a year or more for the appeal to be finalised before Griffith will answer for his alleged Sydney offences.
Sarah, who is a close friend to several other victims’ families, said the delays were retraumatising and distressing. Justice would give the children a sense of control and agency, she said.
“I want them to be [in] the minority of children whose offender has been prosecuted for what they did to them,” Sarah said.
Whenever there’s public discussion around Griffith’s case, Sarah limits her daughter’s exposure to news or media that might show his face.
“It’s not that it will bring closure. It might close one box. But it will be one less thing to think about,” she said.
“This is not a hurt that’s going to heal up with a Band-Aid. This is forever.”
Delaying Griffith’s extradition also delays bringing potential action against the owners of the Sydney childcare centre that employed him.
Last year, Sarah successfully worked with NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd and a parliamentary committee to change the law so legal action can be brought against childcare directors within two years of an abuser’s legal proceedings, rather than within two years of the offence.
“If [Griffith] doesn’t come down here and get prosecuted, they can’t be prosecuted,” Sarah said.
Boyd said the delay gave “cover to everyone whose actions or failures helped these [alleged] crimes happen”.
“The longer this drags on, the harder it becomes to hold them accountable,” she said.
“The owners of these services need to know the grave responsibilities they have to protect children and the consequences of failing in that duty. Every day of inaction prevents healing, prolongs trauma and endangers the application of justice.”
Sarah has written to NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley to request that his extradition be expedited.
Ordinarily, prisoners are not transferred until they have served their full sentence and all ongoing legal matters are finalised.
However, in September last year, Daley requested the Queensland attorney-general transfer Griffith to NSW, and has made the same request to the Commonwealth attorney-general. The Queensland attorney-general agreed to the request pending the outcome of his appeal, while the Commonwealth is considering the request.
Both the Queensland and Commonwealth matters must be heard before a Queensland magistrate for the transfer orders to be made.
Ahead of his retirement, the state’s longest-serving child abuse detective, Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans, wrote to Daley requesting Griffith be brought to NSW as soon as possible.
Daley has not met with Sarah. A spokesperson said they were happy to arrange a meeting. A letter to her, sent last month and seen by this masthead, acknowledged her and other families’ “distress” due to the delay in his transfer.
Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.