Man sentenced to life in prison after raping, molesting nieces
A judge has apologised to sisters whose mother ignored their desperate pleas for help after they were raped by their uncle, now jailed for life. Warning: Distressing
Two sisters have recalled how their life became a living hell after being terrorised by a rapist uncle, jailed for life for his vile crimes.
Their cries for help were ignored by their mother who the court heard knew her brother was a convicted sex offender but still did not believe her children.
Judge Jennifer Rosengren gave an emotionally apology to the two, now young women for the horror unleashed when they were aged between nine and 16.
During a six day trial, the two girls were gave evidence and were cross examined for a five woman and seven man jury who found him guilty on all four charges of rape and indecent treatment in Mackay District Court
The abuse involved him raping his niece while she was getting out of the shower and once while one of the girls fell asleep watching a movie.
The court heard that, at one point, the man threatened to kill one of the girls if they ever told their mother.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, one girl described being traumatised to the point she had to sleep with knives at night “to make sure that I don’t get sexually assaulted” and breaking down at school every time she sat next to a boy in class.
“I have not been able to trust another male since being sexually assaulted by my own uncle. He hurt me every day to the point that I was going to give up on life,” she said.
“I was only 13 when the offending happened and nobody believed me at first when I told my mum and my siblings”.
The other girl, who was raped repeatedly by the man while he lived in the family home, described growing up never being able to look at a male without thinking “if I ever get close, something would happen”.
“I had to relearn how to trust males. I could not even look at my brothers,” she wrote.
“I have nightmares every night because of you.”
The crimes happened in Mackay and southern Queensland regions while the man, who had already gone to jail for 20 months for molesting and sodomising a 10-year-old cousin, was living in the family home.
Judge Rosengren told the girls she was “so incredibly sorry” for what they were subjected to and that their “plea for help to your mother was ignored”.
“She clearly was the adult whom you should have expected you could turn to for protection.
“One might assume that she knew of the defendant’s previous offending given he had spent 20 months in jail and that she knew that he was in jail for having committed offences against another young relative.”
Ms Rosengren sentenced the man to life for each of the rape sentences and two-and-a-half years jail for the indecent treatment offences, to be served concurrently.
“Your convictions for the four rapes means that… I have no discretion as to the sentence imposed and I therefore order that you be in prison for life in relation to each of those counts.”
