Geelong man jailed over sexually abusing granddaughters

A Geelong grandfather has been thrown behind bars after abusing his young granddaughters for years, including in his marital bed as his wife slept. One victim called it “the ritual”.

One of the man’s victims referred to the sexual touching as “the ritual” and estimated the man had abused her more than 100 times.

A Geelong grandfather has been thrown behind bars after abusing his granddaughters for years, including in his marital bed as his wife slept.

The man – who is in his late 70s and can’t be named to protect the identity of his victims – pleaded guilty to ten charges in September, including two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 by touch and eight counts of committing an indecent act with or in the presence of a child under the age of 16.

The grandfather was jailed for 26 months, with a non-parole period of 14 months and must register as a sex offender for life.

Court documents, including an agreed summary outlining the man’s offending, were released to the Geelong Advertiser this month.

It can be revealed the man’s two victims were his granddaughters, and the abuse spanned several years.

The victims were both under the age of 14.

According to court documents, an investigation was launched into the man after one of his victims disclosed the abuse in August 2022.

The matter was first reported to Geelong Multi-disciplinary Centre (MDC) in October that year.

Geelong MDC, located on Spring St in Geelong West, is one of seven such centres across Victoria, which provide access to a range of services for victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

Court documents revealed the man would take one victim into the bed he shared with his wife, and “touch her all over her body” and on one occasion, he put her hand on his penis.

When interviewed, he denied it was intentional but described any potential touching of his penis by the victim as “just a curiosity thing”.

During another incident, he told the girl: “We don’t have to tell anyone about this”, court documents state.

The other victim estimated she was molested “over 160 times” and described the sexual touching as “the ritual”, according to court documents.

On one occasion, when she was 10, the man molested her by “kissing” her chest after prompting her to lift up her shirt.

In another incident, the victim was molested by the man in a tent in his backyard on Christmas.

Later, the man brought out a massage wand or vibrator as an “adult surprise” and told the victim she could rub it on areas including her genitalia.

He pretended to leave the room but continued watching the victim as she pretended to use it. On approximately four to five occasions he used it on her, court documents state.

In another incident the victim woke with the man “performing the ritual” on her.

The man told police he didn’t know “where this ritual thing came from” but acknowledged he’d ask the victim if she wanted a cuddle and she would climb into bed.

Although he admitted to introducing the girl to the vibrator, he initially denied using it on his victim, telling police: “no, no, as I said she’s got a vivid imagination that girl”.

Originally published as Geelong man jailed over sexually abusing granddaughters