Bundaberg farmer has been sentenced to jail for raping his stepdaughters

A “remorseless” Queensland farmer has been found guilty of the sickening sexual abuse of his two young stepdaughters which started when one of the sisters was just eight years old. WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT.

There were tears in the gallery as a 12-person jury found a “remorseless” Bundaberg farmer guilty on 10 charges relating to the historical sexual abuse of his young stepdaughters.

Over the course of a trial spanning several days in the District Court at Bundaberg, sickening details of abuse were read out including how one of the girls was just eight years old the first time her stepfather started abusing her.

Facts read out in the court before Judge John Allen revealed the man had groomed the two girls in his care into increasingly disturbing sexual acts.

The court heard the young girls had been made to suffer sexual abuse in order to be granted favours, such as buying a food item not on the shopping list, avoiding chores or being given time to spend at a friend’s house.

One day the accused had been watching a farming program on TV when he started touching one of the girls, who said she didn’t want to work on the farm that day.

In response, the accused initiated sexual acts.

The court heard that the man had maintained an unlawful relationship of a sexual nature with circumstances of aggravation with the girls for a length of time spanning from 1994 till 2002 when he was aged in his 40s and 50s.

Judge John Allen noted the accused had no prior criminal history, and was otherwise of good character, having worked from a young age on a family farm and helping supervise his siblings.

The court heard the man currently provided support to elderly relatives and had a child with his current partner, who was supporting him in court and visibly distressed as the sentence was read out.

The jury found the man guilty of 10 offences, five each in relation to both girls.

One girl was just eight years old when she started being sexually abused by her stepfather.

For one girl, he was charged with one count of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with the circumstance of aggravation and four offences of indecent treatment of a child with a circumstance of aggravation.

For the second, he was charged with one count of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with the circumstance of aggravation and four counts of rape.

“There’s a complete lack of remorse in your case, you’re not to be punished for having a trial, but you don’t have the benefit of the significant mitigating factor of being sentenced after pleas of guilty,” Judge Allan said in sentencing.

“You groomed and corrupted (one of the girls) from a young age.

“You engaged on a determined course of corruption of that child in a situation where you were her stepfather and she should have expected parental protection rather than predation.”

The man was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for all offences. He must serve at least 80 per cent.