Family stands by offender

Court hears man had sex with stepdaughter more than once

A WESTERN Downs man jailed for twice having sex with his 14-year-old stepdaughter maintained the support of the victim and her family.

The now 43-year-old man, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty in Toowoomba District Court to the indecent treatment of a girl under 16 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 16.

Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie told the court the first incident related to the man putting his hand down the girl’s shirt and feeling her breasts as she sat beside him in his car some time in 2017 just before her 14th birthday.

The pair then had consensual sexual intercourse during a night stopover in Charters Towers some time between March and May 2019 and again outside the family home on the Western Downs in his ute in mid-2019 when the girl was 15, she said.

The matter came to light when the man’s de facto wife became suspicious and told her son, who contacted police.

The man made full admissions to police, saying he felt shame at what he had done.

The victim, her sister and mother all provided victim impact statements in which they said while realising what he had done was wrong, none of them wanted to see him jailed.

Ms Petrie said the man’s offending was a gross breach of trust.

Defence barrister Michael Copley QC said his client was genuinely remorseful and that he wanted to seek psychological therapy upon his release from jail to address what was behind his offending.

Judge Katherine McGuinness said the offending was very serious and sentenced the man to four years in jail but ordered the term be suspended after eight months.