Gippsland man jailed for bashing man who allegedly sexually assaulted his daughter

A Gippsland father has been jailed after he bashed the man who was about to get off “scot-free” for allegedly sexually assaulting his preschool-aged daughter.

A Gippsland father who bashed his uncle after finding out he allegedly sexually assaulted his preschool-aged daughter has been jailed.

The 35-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was thrown behind bars for two years and four months in County Court on Monday after he earlier pleaded guilty to assault and burglary.

The court heard the man’s wife called him in tears earlier this year saying their daughter’s case had been dropped.

She said there were “complexities” involved and she did not want their daughter to have to testify.

The father then drove 20km to his uncle’s home and bashed him.

During the attack the accused said: “You don’t deserve to breathe, you piece of sh*t” and “You’re lucky I don’t kill you”.

The victim suffered facial fractures that did not require surgery.

According to court documents the alleged predator no longer feels safe in his own home and is “anxious” about what might happen to him while he is in the community.

The father later told police he wanted his uncle to know he had not got away with assaulting his daughter despite getting off “pretty much scot-free”.

He said he was “happy” he did it and stopped when he saw his uncle “had blood coming out of his head”.

After the assault, he walked out calmly, shut the door, sat in the car for a couple of minutes and drove home.

Judge Peter Kidd said he was acting “human” but his behaviour was “inexcusable”.

“You were acting on the parental instinct out of fury of a wrong you believed to be committed against your child,” he said.

“Your stress and emotional state at the time of receiving the news that the legal proceedings against your uncle will be discontinued was human.”

But Mr Kidd said that did not excuse his behaviour.

“The fact is, you punched him multiple times to the face and the head area and you did so, and I quote, ‘as hard as you could’,” he said.

“You intended to physically hurt him.”

Mr Kidd said the accused’s behaviour was in no way “justifiable”.

“Dissatisfied by the outcome of the legal process, you took the law into your own hands,” he said.

“The law recognises that it is important to deter people from taking the law into their own hands by resorting to violence to exact revenge.

“Such behaviour cannot be tolerated.”

He will be eligible for parole in 11 months.