Stepdad jailed for raping girl

A MAN who raped his young disabled step-daughter up to four times a week for nearly five years was sentenced to almost 10 years in jail yesterday.

A MAN who raped his young disabled step-daughter up to four times a week for nearly five years was sentenced to almost 10 years in jail yesterday.

Bundaberg District Court heard the 39-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had regular sex with the girl from the age of eight until her 13th birthday.

He threatened the girl, telling her: “If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you.”

The man pleaded guilty to five charges of rape, two counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12 years in his care and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.

Prosecutor Alex Stark said the man began the abuse by touching the girl.

He then began having sex with her “at least two times a week” and sometimes “up to three or four times a week”.

The girl’s mother became aware of the situation at the girl’s 13th birthday party.

“The complainant said the prisoner came into her room, removed her underpants and had sex with her,” Mr Stark said.

“Her mum witnessed him leaving the room, zipping up his jeans.”

The girl’s mother took the girl to the police station where, after further questioning, she admitted this was not the first time the man had raped her.

“Even after her mother apprehended him, it took some days for her to open up,” Mr Stark said.

The court also heard the girl had an intellectual disability, meaning her mental age was less than her actual age.

Judge Richard Jones told the man his obvious remorse, which was displayed as he silently cried in the docks, was “largely offset” by his actions over a long period of time.

“This family may never recover from the fracture you have caused, to the extent that the girl no longer lives with her family,” Judge Jones told the man.

The man was sentenced to eight years in jail for the five counts of rape, two years in jail for maintaining the indecent treatment and nine years and nine months for maintaining the relationship, to be served concurrently.

Originally published as Stepdad jailed for raping girl