Logan man pleads guilty to child sex abuse 15 years after crime

A young woman has been “saved” the pain of reliving the most traumatic moments of her childhood after the man who sexually assaulted her finally pleaded guilty in court.

Logan man pleads guilty to child sex abuse 15 years after crime

A Logan man has been sentenced for grossly abusing his friend’s young daughter while he slept over at her house more than a decade ago.

The man, now in his 40s, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court today to one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 under 12.

The court heard the matter was initially listed for trial but the man agreed to plead guilty after the prosecution dropped three related charges.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt said the offending occurred on an unknown date in 2007 or 2008 – when the girl was between nine and 11-years-old.

The man had been staying over at a friend‘s house in Ipswich one evening when he “took the opportunity” to sneak into his friend’s daughter’s bedroom.

Ms Parfitt said the man woke the girl when he reached inside her pyjama pants and “tickled” her privates – over the underwear.

She said the girl’s family reported the offending to police years later, in 2012, but there were significant delays “for some reason that isn‘t quite clear” before the man was charged in 2019.

Ms Parfitt noted the man’s criminal history consisted of three assault occasioning bodily harm offences with the most recent dealt with in April this year.

Defence barrister Scott Neaves said the man hadn’t, however, committed any sexual offences in the many years since this incident.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren said the victim’s impact statement detailed the significant ongoing impact the man’s offending had upon her.

He said she hadn’t finished high school due to anxiety associated with this offence and said the man’s plea had “saved her” from the ordeal of giving evidence in front of a jury.

“People who would commit offences against children, opportunistically as this seems, need to know the courts deal with the matter severely,” said Judge Horneman-Wren.

However, he accepted that the significant period of time since the actual offence date, in which the man hadn’t similarly reoffended, demonstrated the man’s strong prospect of rehabilitation.

The man was ultimately sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, immediately suspended for an operational period of two years, and a conviction was recorded.