Maryborough man in court for raping, sexually abusing child

A young girl was raped when her mother’s boyfriend got her alone during a game of hide and seek.

A man who raped his girlfriend’s daughter during a game of hide and seek has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

A man who raped his girlfriend’s daughter during a game of hide and seek has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

The man, aged 35, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, seven counts of indecent dealing and one count of attempted rape when he faced Maryborough District Court on Monday, May 29.

The court heard he had been in a relationship with the young girl’s mother and they had been living in Maryborough when the offending happened.

The mother was a shift worker, the court was told, and the man often had care of the child.

The court heard there were a number of occasions when the man touched the child inappropriately or had made her touch him inappropriately, starting from when she was nine years old.

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When the girl was 11, she was playing hide and seek at a party held by the man and her mother, the court was told.

The man joined in the game and was able to get the girl alone and rape her.

There was another incident on a later date in a shed where he tried to force her to give him oral sex but she pulled her head away, resulting in the charge of attempted rape, the court heard.

Maryborough Courthouse.

The offending stopped when the child was 14, when the man came into the kitchen, touched her inappropriately and asked if she “wanted to do anything”.

The girl said no and told the man she would tell her mother about what had happened.

The girl later told her mother she wanted to live with her grandmother because she didn’t want to live with the man, but didn’t disclose the sexual offending.

She later told her grandmother, who encouraged her to tell her mother, the court heard.

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When the girl told her mother, the man denied the sexual abuse and later, when police became involved, he told the officers the child had “fabricated the story” in an attempt to end his relationship with her mother.

The court heard the man had one child and had previously worked in engineering and hydraulics.

He had been treated for depression while in custody.

Judge Anthony Rafter said the offences had been committed against a young child and it had been a significant violation of trust.

He said the man had showed no remorse when he denied the offending, first to the girl’s mother and later to police.

The man was given a head sentence of eight years in prison and had already spent 563 days in pre-sentence custody, the court heard.

He would become eligible for parole on May 11, 2024.