Tasmania Police has conceded it had access to enough evidence to likely achieve a conviction against alleged paedophile James Geoffrey Griffin in 2015, but it had been "filed inappropriately" on its system.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The matter did not prompt investigation at the time, and Griffin was able to continue working on the Launceston General Hospital's paediatric ward for another four years.
Australian Federal Police had obtained information in 2015 regarding Griffin allegedly discussing child exploitation online, and Tasmania Police was informed.
Commissioner Darren Hine confirmed that Tasmania Police took possession of the information, but "nothing was done with it".
More on the James Geoffrey Griffin hearings:
- Timeline: The moments when James Griffin could have been stopped, but wasn't
- Concern after concern, but why did Griffin's manager not act for 11 years?
- The Griffin evidence that was ignored in 2000, before he even worked with children
- One LGH nurse's battle to make James Griffin story public
- LGH worker disclosed Griffin abuse in 2011, so what happened next?
- Department described Griffin comments to girls, 14, as 'well intended'
- How the LGH collectively failed Zoe Duncan and her family
- Former LGH CEO suffers 'medical incident' while giving evidence; discrepancies in evidence questioned
"It was filed inappropriately and no further action was taken," he said.
Commissioner Hine said there was a combination of human error and system error.
"The follow-up on the computer system, our IDM system, is supposed to be followed up by a detective," he said.
"It was given a 'filed pending further investigation', but it never actually came back up again.
"So it should have been followed up by the person who had responsibility for it.
"There are a number of issues. It wasn't done out of malice, it was done out of not paying the particular attention. That's not acceptable."
The information was not accessed until July 2019, when Detective Senior Constable Glenn Hindle started investigating Griffin following the disclosure of alleged abuse made by Tiffany Skeggs.
He said the information was significant.
"I recall reviewing that particular entry and forming the opinion that it may have been unresolved and further effort could be made in respect of that," Detective Senior Constable Hindle said.
"If the context of what was mentioned was true, then there should have been a conviction against his name."
Tasmania Police has apologised for the mistake.
Police were able to have Griffin's Working with Vulnerable People registration suspended on July 31, 2019, after finding evidence of child exploitation material on his mobile phone. This immediately stopped him from working on the LGH children's ward.
Griffin's 1990s computer did not classify as an offence
The Commission of Inquiry had earlier heard evidence that police had not investigated a report from a man in 2000 who had purchased a computer from Griffin which allegedly contained child exploitation material.
He had written a follow-up email to police in March the next year with concerns about Griffin working with children, and had given information to NSW Police, where he was living.
Commissioner Hine said the information had been forensically examined in NSW and two CD ROMs were sent to investigators in Tasmania, but no offences had been detected.
The man contacted Tasmania Police in December 2019 after hearing about the Griffin matter and spoke with Detective Senior Constable Hindle, who said he could find no record of the 2000 matter.
Detective Senior Constable Hindle said the man described the computer as containing images of young children wearing bikinis.
These kinds of images would not be classified as child exploitation material on the Australian National Victim Image Library schema.
"Images of young kids in bikinis is ignorable material, or, not illegal material," Detective Senior Constable Hindle said.
Commissioner Hine said this kind of information in 2022 would be recorded on the police intelligence system and reported to the Working with Vulnerable People register, which did not exist in 2000.
Apologies made over failings in two more Griffin matters
Commissioner Hine said there were serious shortcomings in the way in which police responded to two other matters related to Griffin.
The first was in 2011, when two parents made allegations of child sexual abuse against Griffin.
Child and Family Services did not provide the name of the notifier, and it was determined there were no further lines of inquiry that could be followed.
Commissioner Hine said more work should have been done on this.
"In relation to the MOU that was in existence at the time, that should have been taken to an Inspector, and the Inspector had opportunities to actually escalate the matter to make sure that every avenue was covered," he said.
The second involved a notification to police by multiple people in 2013 regarding Griffin's behaviour with Tiffany Skeggs.
A Child and Family Services worker dealt with the issue themselves, effectively writing it off, and police did not follow up.
"This matter certainly needed to be handled better," Commissioner Hine said.
"The fact that there were no further checks undertaken, the matter was dealt with by a CFS worker and written off in relation to the advice of the CFS worker and we didn't go back and investigate, wasn't acceptable then, it wasn't acceptable now.
"We definitely have let the victim survivor down, which I apologise for, and we should have done better."
Since Griffin's death in 2019, Tasmania Police has undertaken a review of its responses and released a report last year. Work is ongoing to implement all recommendations, including the introduction of multi-disciplinary centres for victim-survivors to make disclosures in more trauma-informed environments.
Sexual assault support services:
- Sexual Assault Support Service (Tasmania): 1800 697 877
- Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114
- Tasmania's Victims of Crime Service: 1300 300 238
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner