Wife blows kiss to sex predator dad who violated young child
A Warwick court heard the man’s own daughter was just one of three girls violated by the serial predator.
Warwick
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A Southern Downs man will be eligible for parole in less than two years after pleading guilty to sexually abusing his daughter for a decade, starting when she was just three years old.
The man sexually assaulted the girl on six occasions between September, 1981 and December, 1991, while he was aged between 25 and 35.
The Warwick District Court heard the now 64-year-old, who cannot be named, admitted to parts of the offending in a phone call years later.
Crown prosecutor Stephen Muir said one of the most serious assaults took place when the girl was only four years old.
Mr Muir said the father "emotionally blackmailed" her into hiding the abuse, saying they would lose their "wrong but special relationship" if anyone found out.
The man denied the allegations in a police interview in 2015 and earlier court proceedings, which Mr Muir contended showed "lack of remorse and insight".
The man was convicted of raping or sexually abusing another two girls under 16 within the same 10-year period, for which he was currently serving a seven-year jail sentence.
Defence barrister David Jones acknowledged his client's offending was a gross breach of trust, but claimed his former addiction to alcohol and marijuana played a significant role.
Mr Jones said the man's pattern of sexual abuse was triggered by his own childhood trauma.
"He's a different man. Decades have passed, and he's rehabilitated," Mr Jones said.
The man's wife supported him from the back of the courtroom and blew him a kiss before proceedings began.
Judge Nathan Jarro denounced the man's offending as "abhorrent and inconceivable … depraved behaviour", but acknowledged his rehabilitation attempts.
The man pleaded guilty to three counts each of indecent treatment of a child aged under 14 and indecent treatment of a lineal descendant aged under 16.
He was sentenced to an additional 20 months' jail, with parole eligibility in October 2022.
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