Daycare paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith pleads guilty to sexually abusing dozens of children in Brisbane and Italy

Warning: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.

A former Queensland childcare worker has pleaded guilty to raping, sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of girls in his care.

Ashley Paul Griffith appeared in court in the Brisbane District Court today on more than 300 charges.

Several victims and their families were in the courtroom and some parents cried as their children's names were read.

The crimes against around 60 children occurred between 2007 and 2022 in kindergartens in Brisbane and Italy.

The then 45-year-old from the Gold Coast was arrested by federal police in August 2022 and charged with several offences related to the exploitation of children.

He was later charged with over 1,400 crimes, including dozens of rapes, after additional material depicting child abuse was discovered on his electronic devices.

Earlier this year, an indictment with a greatly reduced number of charges was presented to the District Court.

Today, before Judge Anthony Rafter, further charges were dropped against Griffith, bringing the total number of offences to 307.

These include 190 counts of indecent treatment, 28 counts of rape, 67 counts of producing child exploitation material, four counts of producing child abuse material outside Australia, 15 counts of repeated sexual conduct with a child and more.

Judge Rafter's colleague took over two hours to read all the charges and indict Griffith.

Griffith appeared emotionless as he pleaded guilty to all charges.

He remains in custody and the verdict will be announced at a later date.

The court considered that the verdict could take more than two days and that several statements from the victims would have to be read out.