Predator jailed for vile sex abuse of foster daughter

The girl said her life and family were shattered when the Warwick man she once loved as a father hurt her in the worst way.

Depressed woman sitting on a chair in dark room at home. Lonly , sad, emotion concept.

A WARWICK girl begged for her foster father to be jailed after his sexual abuse of her shattered the family she loved, and left her battling mental health issues.

The Warwick District Court heard the 57-year-old man, who had previously served as a school P & F president, forced the girl he had cared for since she was seven years old to perform oral sex on him when she was 14.

He also pleaded guilty to touching her inappropriately and making child exploitation material.

A victim impact statement submitted by the girl, who also suffers from an intellectual disability, revealed how her life had been devastated by the man she once trusted and loved.

"When I was younger, I was so happy and I looked up to (the man).

"I loved him so very much. I was a happy child.

"I thought I was going to be happy forever … but the abuse started," the statement said.

"I could never escape him.

"(He) does not deserve being free. Please put him in prison."

The court heard that the abuse took place over a 15-and-a-half-month period from June 2017 until October 2018 on the victim's birthday when she turned 16.

"No one should have to go through what I've been through," she said.

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The man's abuse of the girl was only discovered later when the victim's new foster mother found texts of a sexual nature from the man on the girl's phone.

During an initial interview with police on December 2018, the foster father initially denied claims of abuse but returned for multiple interviews where he disclosed information to police, including that he would have "probably" continued if he hadn't been caught.

As a result of the abuse, the girl now suffers from anxiety and depression and has to sleep with a night light on.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC noted a lack of prior ­criminal convictions and an eventual disclosure to police led to his decision to grant ­parole to the man after he serves 20 months of his six-year sentence.

"You committed serious sexual offences against a vulnerable young person who was in your care," the judge said.

"Your conduct should be described as predatory and exploitative.

"There was a gross breach of your position of trust."

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso told the court the man and his wife separated after the abuse was discovered and his daughters were no longer in contact with him.

Until the point of his sentencing, the man was living out of Warwick with his son.

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