56-year-old wannabe politician pleads guilty to abusing niece and her friend
A 56-year-old man who once entertained dreams of being a successful politician has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his niece when she was brought over for family visits.
Inner East
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A 56-year-old man who once harboured dreams of being a politician will spend the next 10 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his niece and her friend.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a chronic alcoholic who had drunk daily since the age of 18, and was living with his mother in the eastern suburbs when he committed the offences between 2009 and 2014, the County Court heard.
His crimes against his brother’s daughter started when she was about three and a half years old when the girl was brought to her grandmother’s place for family gatherings or to be babysat.
His brother and sister-in-law only became aware of the offences years after they started when the girl complained about feeling pain and admitted to her parents that her uncle touched her.
The man’s offence against the second young girl, who was his friend’s daughter and his niece’s playmate, occurred in 2014 when the victim was 8 following a trip to the park.
In sentencing the man in December, County Court Judge Peter Lauritsen noted the man had once aspired to work in business or politics but failed to complete his tertiary qualification.
The court was told he lived with and cared for his elderly mother until her death in 2014 and was now an agoraphobe who found it difficult to leave his room.
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Judge Lauritsen said the man’s actions had a “profound” impact on his niece, who felt responsible for the abuse and now found it difficult to trust others.
“I expect the effect of your criminality upon her to last for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“What you did to both children was shocking.”
Judge Lauritsen sentenced the man to 10 years’ jail with a non-parole period of six years and three months.