Vile predator jailed after underage girl had his baby
A 47-year-old sexual predator's "relationship" with an underage girl he referred to as his step-daughter ultimately resulted in her giving birth.
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A 47-year-old sexual predator's "relationship" with an underage girl he referred to as his step-daughter ultimately resulted in her giving birth to his child at just 16, the Gympie District Court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alerted authorities to his unlawful relationship with the girl, aged 14 at the beginning of his offending, through monitored phone calls between the two while he served time in jail for other crimes.
He had first been taken to the Maryborough correctional facility on "certain drug matters" in early 2016, making several calls to the girl while inside.
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The two had many graphic sexual conversations and talked about how much they "missed and loved" each other. The man also referred to her as his step-daughter.
The court heard the man threatened her to not go with other boys, or he would kill them and her too. He also told her they "would get married once she was old enough".
Upon the man's release from prison in February 2017 the two became "sexually involved", which resulted in the girl giving birth to a baby boy at the age of 16, with the court determining she was 15 at the time of conception.
The man was again pulled over and charged for unlicensed driving and drug possession in September 2017 while the girl was in the car, with police noting she was pregnant. Police noted the two were trying to swap seats upon being stopped, with the man stating the girl had been driving.
He was sent back to jail, where the two again participated in various graphic sexual phone calls and discussed marriage.
In sentencing the man, Judge Suzanne Sheridan said he "must have become aware" of a possible rape charge against him, after which he engaged in a series of further phone calls with the girl and encouraged her to say she consented to sex with him or to lie about her age, among other suggestions.
He would also encourage her to lie about the driving and drug charges, and successfully convinced her to provide false documents containing elaborate lies to both police and the courts.
The man pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of a child under 16, three of attempting to pervert the course of justice and two unrelated summary offences in court yesterday.
Judge Sheridan handed down a head sentence of five and a half years with parole after 22 months. She took 14 months, which the man had already served in prison, off both the head sentence and his parole eligibility date. He will be eligible to apply for parole on March 25 next year.
Originally published as Vile predator jailed after underage girl had his baby
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