‘She was quite sexualised’ claims paedophile stepdad while pleading guilty
The 60-year-old Gympie paedophile was convicted of two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16, under 12 and under his care and will spend three months behind bars
Gympie
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A 60-year-old Gympie region man fronted Gympie District Court on Friday on charges relating to the sexual assault of his young stepdaughter.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16, under 12 and under his care.
There were tears in the gallery as his crimes against the young girl were read out to the court.
Crown Prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told the court the man originally gave a false version of events in the hopes of receiving a lesser sentence.
“He tried to minimise his offending by suggesting there was only one touching in the course of an accidental game,” she said.
Ms Gallagher also said he had said the victim was quite sexualised, despite being under the age of 12.
“When he spoke to the police he discussed some of the complainant’s behavior towards him,” she said.
“He spoke about things like she would spread her legs quite wide in front of him, to the point where he thought she was trying to encourage him to do something.”
Ms Gallagher also said his victim had been sexually assaulted earlier in her life by someone else.
The 60-year-old man is not an Australian citizen as he was born in New Zealand, which meant he risked being deported upon pleading guilty to his crimes.
Judge Bernie Porter took this into account for sentencing, noting he would be automatically deported should he serve 12 months or more behind bars.
Judge Porter also acknowledged the offences involved forceful touching.
“It involved offending which, on the scale of these things was … less serious,” he said.
Despite a victim impact statement from the victim’s biological father detailing the effect the crimes had on the victim, the man was sentenced to nine months in jail with three years probation, which will be suspended after serving three months behind bars.
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