Man jailed for child abuse

Accused pleads guilty to 11 sexual offence charges

A Cairns man was convicted for 11 sexual offences against children spanning eight years in Cairns District Court on Friday.

The court heard the 33-yearold man offended against two girls, his nieces, when they stayed with his wife and himself or when he stayed at their home to care for them.

The man, who cannot be named as it would identify the victims, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecent treatment, two charges of rape and one charge of maintain sexual relationship with child. Prosecutor Claudia Georgouras said some of the offending was particularly brazen, in shared living spaces such as the lounge, and offending against one girl occurred primarily when she was sleeping.

“The most serious charge of maintaining a relationship involves about a year of offending when she was aged 10 and 11, there were instances of digital penetration and what she described as a vibrating object on multiple occasions,” Ms Georgouras

said. Victim impact statements from both girls, now aged 16 and 14, and their mother, were tendered.

“There have been ongoing impacts across the family, both speak of suicidal thoughts and that it would be ‘easier not to be here’ and their mother speaks about concerns she will go to bed, and she won’t see them in the morning,” Ms Georgouras said.

Defence barrister Rachelle Logan said the man had mental health issues.

Judge Morzone noted a range of diagnoses inkling mixed personality disorder, persistent depressant disorder and alcohol abuse disorder.

Referring to the older girl, Mr Morzone said she suffered greatly because she felt if she’d spoken up earlier, it could have saved her sister from having a similar experience.

“You said you loved her, when nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

“The girl is in a state of misery, regret and pain, panic attacks, sadness and anger, cutting, biting and burning, she finds it hard to trust others and speaks of her struggles with her mental health,” he said.

“She has frequent flashbacks, intrusive memories and panic attacks, disassociation and numbness.

“There are triggers from past memories as well as paranoia that you could be back, bringing about nightmares and affecting her concentration at school,” Judge Morzone said.

“Sadly, she feels responsible for what you did to her younger sister, her feelings of entrapment and paralysis have driven her to consider killing herself.”

He gave a head sentence of four and a half years, with 392 days in custody declared as a time served, and a parole eligibility date of November 2024.