Jail for ‘despicable’ abuse

Father grooms daughter from young age

THE “depravity” of a father’s actions against his teenage daughter were only uncovered after she confided in a school friend his horrendous actions against her, which included the creation of child exploitation material and manipulating her into performing sex acts on himself and other men.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, began grooming his daughter at a young age before sexually abusing her from the age of 10 to 14, Toowoomba District Court was told on October 7.

The now 67-year-old’s offending, which is too graphic to publish, involved a high level of coercion and manipulation to force the girl into performing a number of sex acts on him.

Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie said some of the more “heinous” offending involved the man procuring the victim to two other men to engage in sexual acts with.

The court was told the offending came to light in 2020 when the victim told a friend about the abuse she had been subjected to, and upon being informed the conduct was not normal she went to police.

Ms Petrie said investigations into the man saw electronic devices seized which uncovered 76 images and videos of child exploitation material involving the victim, her father as well as her mother.

In total the man pleaded guilty to 10 offences, including maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 16 of lineal descent, making, possessing and distributing child exploitation material, indecent treatment of a child and carnal knowledge of a child under the age of 16.

In a victim impact statement Ms Petrie read to the court, the now adult woman said the horrific abuse she suffered saw her get panic attacks at the sight of men similar to that of her abuser, and that she could no longer sleep alone at night “without waking in fear that he will be there”.

“I am no longer able to walk the streets alone without deeply panicking when I see a man of a similar build,” the impact statement said.

The man’s barrister Steven Kissick said his client took the step of having his own bail revoked following his arrest in September 2020, and he had remained in custody since.

Suffering from a “significant problem” with alcohol as well as mental health issues, Mr Kissick said his client’s history was littered with suffering of his own, including being sexually abused as a child.

Condemning the “depravity” of the man’s offending, Judge Dennis Lynch KC said the man emotionally and psychologically manipulated his daughter to the point that force or violence was not needed in what amounted to a “despicable abuse of trust as a parent”.

Declaring 737 days of presentence custody as time served, the man was sentenced to eight years jail, and set a parole eligibility at the halfway point of the sentence.

The man would be eligible for release on parole on September 29, 2024.