Man handed 13-year jail term for horror sexual abuse against daughter, granddaughters

An 81-year-old who subjected his own daughter and two granddaughters to terrible abuse will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. WARNING: Distressing content.

A monster father has been jailed for the repeated and horrific sexual abuse of his daughter and two of his granddaughters.

A predatory father will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was handed a 13-year jail term for horrific and repeated sexual abuse against his own daughter and two granddaughters.

It has taken more than 30 years but the now 81-year-old is paying the price for his vile conduct that occurred over three separate periods between the late 1980s and early 2020s.

The man even told his first victim, his daughter to whom he subjected the most terrible acts for more than 10 years, to “basically move on” when she confronted him about more than 10 years after, Mackay District Court heard.

Now a mother, she suffers from nightmares “and needed counselling to deal with the horror of what you did to her”, Judge Vicki Loury said in court.

She was just four years old and his only daughter when he began corrupting her.

The man even told his first victim, his daughter to whom he subjected the most terrible acts for more than 10 years, to “basically move on”.

When her parents separated, her father took his victim to live with him even moving to the Whitsunday region where his abuse occurred every night.

She was just 10 when he began to anally rape her. This occurred frequently until her later teens when she fled her family home to escape his abuse.

At the time she had no one to turn to for help – her mother and brothers did not believe her.

“She felt isolated and ashamed and thought that she must have been at fault,” Judge Loury said.

“It was you who should have been ashamed.

“She feels now that she can finally get some closure because she has been believed. She should know that she is believed.”

In the mid 2010s his daughter went to police and she even rang her father to confront him about what he did.

“You did not apologise to her. At most you said that it was in the past and that she should forget about it,” Judge Loury told him.

She did not push forward with her complaint for several years, until after learning he had also sexually offended against two of her nieces.

The abuse on his daughter occurred frequently until her late teens when she fled her family home to escape his abuse

He was aged 69 to 77 when he set upon his two granddaughters while living with the family, sexually offending against one of them over three years including digital rape and forcing her to touch him. She was aged six to nine and her younger sister was five when he molested her.

This came to light when one of the girls told a doctor during a routine check up.

Reading a victim impact statement from the eldest, now a young adult, Judge Loury said she spoke of “her confusion and her fear when you sexually abused her”.

“She began to fear your very presence. She writes of the guilt she feels now that she did not disclose your abuse so as to protect her younger sister from you,” Judge Loury said.

“She was a little girl. She should know that it was not her job to protect her sister from you. It was your job to protect both those girls from harm, but you failed them and instead caused them harm.”

The older sister has flashbacks and the younger nightmares. Judge Loury said the impacts of childhood sexual abuse were pervasive and could impact victims throughout their lives.

“Those impacts can pervade almost every aspect of their lives into and throughout their adulthood,” Judge Loury said.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to 13 charges against three victim children that included rape, repeated sexual conduct and indecent treatment of a child.

“The day of reckoning has been almost 40 years in its making in one sense,” defence barrister Michael Hibble said.

Mr Hibble told the court his client had entered guilty pleas, meaning none of the victims had to give evidence.

“My client should get some significant recognition for that,” he said, also adding it was appreciated it was his client’s “last day in the outside world” and reiterated the mitigating factor was his pleas of guilty.

Reading a victim impact statement from the eldest, now a young adult, Judge Loury said she spoke of “her confusion and her fear when you sexually abused her. Picture: File photo

The court heard he was in relatively good health for his age.

Judge Loury said there was nothing before her to assess what risk the man would be.

“Your untreated deviant sexual tendencies on which you acted in a predatory manner over many years tends towards you being a risk,” she said, adding she was unable to determine his prospects of rehabilitation.

“You had a duty to protect them. It was your role to nurture them rather you had no thought for the damage you were doing to them.

“You sexually abused them to satisfy your own deviant sexual urges.

“The breach of trust to your victims and to your son and your daughter-in-law who took you in and provided you a home is egregious.”

Taking into consideration his age, Judge Loury jailed the man for 13 years in total. He must at least 10 years and five months before he is eligible for parole.