Man jailed for abusing his grandchildren in their eastern suburbs home
An elderly man who stayed with his granddaughters in their eastern suburbs home during school holidays was a trusted carer. It was only after his victims told police years later he had repeatedly sexually assaulted them, that he was finally jailed.
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A retiree who repeatedly sexually abused his granddaughters as he cared for them in their home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has finally been jailed.
The 78-year-old Wangaratta man, who cannot be named, has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison with a non-parole period of two years after he pleaded guilty to four charges of committing an indecent act with a child.
The Count Court heard one of his granddaughters was aged between seven and 12 years old, while the other was 10, when he touched them inappropriately on several occasions between February 2010 and January 2014.
The man was staying at his son’s suburban Melbourne home to look after several of his grandchildren during school holidays between February 2010 and February 2011 when he assaulted the 10-year-old, putting his hands in her underpants as she sat on his lap.
He assaulted her younger sister several times between January 2010 to December 2014, touching her inappropriately under her clothing and forcing her to touch him over his clothing.
The last occasion was said to occur when the younger granddaughter was staying at his home in Wangaratta, where he touched her inappropriately as she sat on the couch and forced her to put her hands in his pants.
The court heard the girl left the room, telling her grandfather she was feeling uncomfortable, before another similar assault ensued shortly after.
She then told her cousins and parents about what had been happening, and they resolved to stop seeing the man, even though he denied the allegations.
He was arrested in July 2018 after the girls made reports to Box Hill police.
The court heard he immediately denied the allegations, saying his granddaughter may have made them up because he told her off for being naughty.
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He only pleaded guilty to the charges seven months later.
When handing down the sentence on October 4, Judge Susan Pullen said had the man not pleaded guilty, she would have ordered him to spend eight years in jail.
“The facts in this case are most serious and disturbing,” she told the court.
“An aggravating feature of your offending was that it was a breach of trust, not only of (the girls), but also their parents who trusted their daughters — your granddaughters — in your care.”
Judge Pullen said she remained troubled by the man’s lack of explanation for his offending.
The court heard the assaults had severely affected the wellbeing of all members of the girls’ family, with their father’s statement to the court saying the damage caused had been “far more reaching than anyone could begin to imagine”.
The court heard the man would be required to report to the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 for the rest of his life.