Man pleads guilty in Ipswich Court to historic sex offences against little sister

A southeast Queensland family has been torn apart by sickening incestuous revelations, as a now-grown woman bravely told a court the truth about what her big brother did to her when she was just eight years old. GRAPHIC

A man has faced court for committing sick sex acts against his eight-year-old sister over a decade ago. Picture: Nicola McNamara

An 18-year-old man committed sick sex acts against his eight-year-old sister while their parents left him in charge to babysit, a southeast Queensland court has heard.

Over a decade later, the now-adult victim faced her big brother in court to tell him she would “never forgive” him for taking her innocence.

The woman watched proceedings over a video link as her victim impact statement was read aloud to the court.

“I will forever be haunted by what has happened,” the statement read.

“The stress and pain of reliving the events has caused me to lose sleep and have multiple flashbacks and nightmares of the assaults.

“I have been tormented by the memory of each event … I can’t think or talk about the defendant or the events that happened without having extreme emotional outbursts.

“He took my innocence. He took a childhood that was filled with safety and comfort and love and replaced it with pain, anxiety, and mental and emotional torment.

“He has been a source of so much of my pain and suffering, and I will never forgive him for what he has done and what he has taken from me – and the fracture he has caused in my family.”

Her brother, in his 30s, pleaded guilty on March 7 to four counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12.

Ipswich District Court heard he had sexually abused his sister on three occasions more than a decade ago.

He had been aged 18 to 19 at the time, while his sister had been aged eight to nine.

The court heard the abuse included two occasions where he was left in charge to babysit his sister, and brought her into the bathroom with him.

On the first occasion, he exposed himself to her and asked her to perform an act on it.

But she left the room instead, and he asked her not to tell anyone.

Then on the second occasion, he put a condom over his penis and again asked her to perform an act.

Again, she refused and left the room.

The court heard the victim had also woken up on one occasion to find her brother standing over her touching her genitalia.

The court heard the girl rolled off her bed away from him and moved under the bed.

Defence barrister Dan Boddice said his client had no recollection of the offending, but accepted his sister’s account.

The man had been convicted of several crimes in the years since this offending, but none of those offences were of a similar nature.

Mr Boddice noted his client had since had children of his own, and that pleading guilty to these offences would impact his freedom to interact with them.

He said his client shouldn’t serve actual time in custody due to his young age at the time of the offending, his guilty plea, and his lack of any similar offending since.

Mr Boddice said the amount of time the man had spent being exposed to children in the community without reoffending demonstrated he did not pose a risk to the community.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren noted the guilty plea had also saved the sister from the ordeal of having to give evidence to a jury.

The man was sentenced to 18 months in jail, wholly suspended for two years, along with 12 months probation.