‘I hope he hit every pothole’: Child sex offender taken interstate to face new charges

Pushing his bedding under the watchful eye of prison guards, a convicted monster on the move.

Ashley Paul Griffith, one of Australia’s worst child sex offenders, was seen on Wednesday for the first time since being sentenced to life behind bars in Queensland.

He was handcuffed and extradited to NSW, where he is facing more than 200 historical sexual abuse offences.

Griffith was marched through Wolston Correctional Centre in Wacol, which is a maximum security prison. 

It is home to some of Queensland's most dangerous offenders and Griffith is among the worst. 

In 2024, Griffith admitted to offences against dozens of young girls at early learning centres in Queensland and Italy.

Queensland Corrections Minister Laura Gerber said Griffith was convicted of “abhorrent” sexual abuse against 69 children over the last two decades.

“What Ashley Paul Griffith did to children was abhorrent, he’s a monster,” Gerber said.

There had been talk of flying Griffith south by private jet.

Instead, the decision was made for a much tighter ride in a van.

“As a former prosecutor who put away paedophiles there was no way I was letting him travel by a private jet,” Gerber said.

“Ashley Paul Griffith travelled by road, and I’m going to say what most Queenslanders are thinking right now: I hope he hit every pothole on the way.”

At 8.15am on Wednesday, there was a handover at Tweed Heads.

Griffith was successfully transferred into NSW custody where another 202 charges await him over the alleged sexual abuse of children in Sydney between 2014 and 2017.

The charges include sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10 years, indecent assault of a person under 16 and producing child abuse material.

“Now it is a matter for the NSW correction minister and the NSW government as to which prison they put him in,” Gerber said.

Griffith won't be returning to Queensland anytime soon.

He will remain in a NSW prison until his trial is over and whichever state hands down the longest sentence will keep him.

At 48 years old Griffiths won't be eligible for parole in Queensland until he is in his 70s.