Maryborough man pleads guilty to indecent treatment of own daughter

A Gympie court has heard a 46-year-old man who indecently assaulted his own daughter on four occasions tried to convince her the last offence was simply a joke.

A 46-year-old Maryborough man has pleaded guilty to the indecent treatment of his own teenage daughter on four separate occasions.

A 46-year-old Maryborough man will have the threat of jail hanging over his head for the next 18 months after molesting his teenage daughter on four separate occasions.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court to four counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16, and while in his care.

Gympie District Court heard he took over primary care of the girl after her mother’s drug use landed her in hospital.

The first two crimes happened at the mother’s Southside home, following her release.

Crown prosecutor Alex Stark told the court the girl woke up in the night to her father “pulling her from her side to her back, then reaching up and grabbing her thigh”.

She heard him masturbating at the time.

In the second incident, the court heard, he rubbed his daughters back and then touched her breast under her shirt.

The final two offences were committed while they were living with other family in the Mackay region, following a falling out with the girl’s mother.

Gympie District Court was told the man, while committing the fourth offence of indecent treatment against his daughter, tried to convince her it was simply “a joke”.

On these last two occasions he touched her genitalia through her clothes while she was asleep.

During the last offence, she woke and demanded to know “what the f--- are you doing”.

The court heard he tried to convince her it was simply “a joke”.

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He later denied the allegations, claiming they were being made as a result of someone else’s influence, before finally pleading guilty shortly after the matter was listed for trial.

The man’s defence lawyer told the court their client had struggled with drug addiction, becoming a heroin addict by age 20.

He was on Newstart and had been living at a men’s shelter and in the process of getting his life back together.

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Judge Gary Long noted the man had a “lengthy criminal history”, particularly for minor dishonesty offences, and he was released on parole from the Bundaberg Magistrates Court in 2022 for crimes including attempted stealing, breaching bail and wilful damage.

However there was no indication of similar types of offending to these latest crimes.

There had also been a long association with abuses of illicit drugs too.

He sentenced the 47-year-old to 18 months’ jail, and suspended as of Monday, March 27, 2023, owing to 191 days already spent in custody.