Mackay granddad jailed for indecent treatment against 9yo granddaughter

A young child is having nightmares after her ‘pop’ molested her as she slept during a family gathering. He later denied the crime to police calling her ‘a spiteful child’.

The Mackay grandfather who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child under 12 and making child exploitation material.

A vile pop who has previously been convicted of child sexual offending has been jailed for molesting his nine-year-old granddaughter while she slept at a family gathering.

Now she has nightmares and the offending has had significant impacts on the family.

When police confronted the Mackay man, aged in his 70s, he denied the terrible conduct and blamed his victim “calling her a spiteful child”.

He and his wife were ostracised from the family and there was no hope of repairing any relationships.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard it was the second time he had committed a sexual offence against a child he was related to, spending three months of a 12 month sentence in jail in the late 1990s.

Crown prosecutor Shannon Sutherland said the incident occurred when the family had been gathered at the man’s home – the little girl had gone to sleep and woke to her grandfather moving her bed.

The court heard he put her hand on his exposed penis and took two photos.

She told her cousin and later her mother and the matter was reported to police, who found the two images in his phone’s deleted folder.

Ms Sutherland labelled it “opportunistic and occurred while she was vulnerable and sleeping in her bed”.

She further argued given his earlier offending this “indicated a sexual interest in young girls which has not been addressed”.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child under 12 and making child exploitation material.

Barrister Scott McLennan said the grandfather was “extremely remorseful and ashamed” for his behaviour, tendering medical records detailing the man had a number of health issues.

The court heard he had been suffering stress at the time and that his severe depression may have contributed to the offence.

Mr McLennan said the man had been engaging in ongoing psychological help to work on his impulse control.

“Your offending was brazen … it occurred while other family members were outside the room,” Judge Gregory Lynham said.

He accepted the offending “had a devastating effect on the family unit”, telling the man there was no prospect of him ever re-establishing a relationship with his granddaughter.

“It’s obvious that she’s still trying to comprehend what happened here,” Judge Lynham said.

“Your offending involved a … significant breach of trust.

“It is clear that (she) does not feel safe.

“Ultimately she says in the victim impact statement that she’s angry that pop did this to me.”

Judge Lynham said he had “gone and blown any reputation you might have developed over the years of being a hard worker” with the two separate incidents of child sex abuse offending.

“That reputational damage I suspect will never be recovered by you, you’ll be left with the stigma now having been before the courts on two separate occasions,” Judge Lynham said.

He was jailed for 21 months to be suspended after serving five months, with an operations period of three years. Judge Lynham accepted any jail term would be more burdensome because of his health issues.

Originally published as Mackay granddad jailed for indecent treatment against 9yo granddaughter