NT man faces trial for allegedly repeatedly raping, violently assaulting young daughter

A TERRITORY father accused of repeatedly abusing his young daughter has faced the first day of his trial

A father is facing trial in the NT Supreme Court for allegedly raping his young daughter. Picture: Che Chorley

A TERRITORY father accused of repeatedly raping and violently abusing his young daughter has faced the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court in Darwin.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded not guilty on Monday to eight counts of rape and two counts of aggravated assault.

In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Matt Nathan SC told the jury the girl had moved in with her father at the age of about three and was living with him and his partner when he began subjecting her to “extreme or certainly at the least, excessive, violence”.

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“(She) knocked on the accused’s door to ask for something to eat, the accused became angry, pushed the complainant to the ground and used a broom to strike her three times before kicking her once,” he said.

Mr Nathan said on another occasion, the girl was playfully teasing the man when he again became angry and hit her several times with an extension cord.

Then when the girl was aged between 10 and 13, Mr Nathan said the man forced himself on her more than eight times.

“They are not the only occasions that unwanted sexual intercourse was forced upon the complainant by the accused but they are the ones she can recall the specifics of when she told her story to police,” he said.

Mr Nathan said the girl had tested positive for chlamydia after coming forward with the allegations and while her father had tested negative, a shirt found hanging above her bed had tested positive for his semen.

Mr Nathan said the man’s partner and sister would give evidence in the trial and would “tell you a very different story” which would be disputed by the Crown.

“Their evidence is that the (girl) is, in effect, lying and had recanted her version to them and they had recorded that – you will hear that recording,” he said.

“Now the Crown case is that they placed undue pressure, coercion, duress on the complainant to change her story.”

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Mr Nathan said jurors would have to assess the girl’s testimony and decide whether it had “a ring of truth about it”.

“Does she come across as someone who is honestly telling her story or does she come across as someone who you think is lying?” he said.

The man’s barrister, Peter Maley, did not make an opening address and the trial continues.