Central Qld man found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter

A young Central Queensland girl’s courage has been praised by a judge after her stepfather was found guilty of sexually abusing her.

A Central Queensland man has been jailed after being found guilty of sexually abusing his step daughter. Generic image.

A Central Queensland man has been jailed after he was found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, was found guilty by a Gladstone District Court jury of two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 under care.

The jury found him not guilty of a third count.

In relation to one of the guilty counts, the court heard the man had instructed his stepdaughter, then aged about 12, to completely undress so he could massage her sore back.

The man placed only a tea towel over the bottom part of the girl’s body and while she was fully naked, he massaged her with oil.

At the time this incident happened, the girl’s mother was not home, and the man told his stepdaughter not to tell her mum about it.

In relation to the other guilty count, the court heard that on another occasion when the girl was about 13, she was in her bed when her stepfather rubbed her stomach but used his hand to go up under her sports bra to touch her on the breast.

During sentencing on July 11, Judge Jeff Clarke said he had considered the evidence and was “fully prepared to accept the sensible verdict of the jury without any hesitation whatsoever.”

Judge Clark further stated the evidence was “very clear”.

“You’d known this young child since she was only eight,” he said.

“She regarded you as her dad - you held the most trusted family position in her life.

“When the allegations came to light, which was soon after she’d turned 13, it led to the complete destruction of the child’s second family unit - her biological parents having separated, and I understand divorced, when she was only young.

“Family break-ups always have a devastating impact upon children.”

Judge Clarke said the girl had confided in her school chaplain because her mother was due to go away for work, and she was worried about what her stepdad was going to do to her.

“The offending was not an isolated event,” Judge Clarke said.

“The evidence provided was cohesive and it made abundant sense, consistent with what may be colloquially called grooming conduct - introducing the child to innocuous physical contact, which escalated it seems, making flattering comments suddenly escalating to your desire to sexually abuse her.

“I regard you as a threat to children in the future, having regard to what happened here and given that there is completely no acceptance, nor acknowledgment of wrongdoing on your behalf.”

Gladstone Courthouse.

Judge Clarke said the case against the man was particularly strong even though it relied entirely upon the evidence of his victim, a young child.

“She, the complainant, was a particularly impressive young lady who endured questioning about what you’d done to her over a period, spanning in her life, of about three years,” Judge Clarke said.

“At all times she was entirely respectful, courteous and courageous in giving her evidence, even when she was branded a liar in the most uncaring manner proffering some stupid or silly purpose behind the reason for a false complaint.

“This was all made far worse, in my view, after you (defendant) provided instructions to cross-examine her on her mental health issues and the fact that she’d been experiencing a form of suicidal ideation as a young child - matters which you must have known were incredibly sensitive to her.

“And to compound matters, you also provided instructions to your lawyers to delve into her protected counselling communications, her private and confidential discussions that she tried to have with a professional to try and come to terms with what you’d done to her, and her other problems that she was enduring in her young life.

“You should be ashamed of yourself - your interest has been completely self-serving, self-interested, even now (prior to sentencing) I’m told what an important person you are at work.

“You, it seems to me, have had a thorough disregard for the interests and welfare of the victim, or for any of the other family members who have been substantially impacted by your offending.”

Prior to the man being sentenced, the girl’s mother and also her biological father personally delivered emotional victim impact statements to the court which was told the offending had completely changed the girl’s life and had devastating impacts on her including a suicide attempt which fortunately was not successful.

Judge Clarke sentenced the man to 12 months’ jail and he made no order about parole.

Originally published as Central Qld man found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter