Mackay region man jailed for nine years for raping young daughter

To the outside world he portrayed himself as a hard working family man, who was heavily involved in junior sports. But behind closed doors he subjected his little girl to harrowing and planned sex abuse and manipulation. WARNING: Confronting

The man, aged in his 40s, pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, with the aggravated circumstance that he unlawfully and indecently dealt with a child and during the course of the relationship he raped the child between 2019 and 2022. He has been in custody on remand for 504 days.

A young teen has bravely confronted her rapist father over his years of abuse as she delivered a powerful speech to “the first man to break my heart before any boy could”.

To the outside world he portrayed himself as a hard working family man, who was heavily involved in junior sports.

But behind closed doors he subjected his little girl to harrowing and planned sex abuse and manipulation for three years and seven months, starting when she was just 10 years old.

“The world is going to see you for what you truly are,” she told him, as he appeared in Mackay District Court via video link.

His abuse, which included constant rape, molestation and manipulation, ended when she was 14.

Since then she has suffered many sleepless nights “dwelling on what’s happened … why me, how do I get rid of this anger in my heart”.

“At first I was ashamed, I hid in the shadows, but now I embrace it because I ain’t afraid to share the truth about who he really is,” she said.

“A dad is someone who is supposed to protect you at all costs.”

Instead she said “he took away my childhood”, and subjecting her to “nightmares and flashbacks” of his terrible actions.

“Without him now, I feel free,” she said, sharing how she had turned her life around since his arrest two years ago.

“This is only a small part in my story,” she said.

The man, aged in his 40s, pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, with the aggravated circumstance that he unlawfully and indecently dealt with a child and during the course of the relationship he raped the child between 2019 and 2022. He has been in custody on remand for 504 days.

Crown prosecutor Grace Ollason pushed for 10-11 years jail, meaning he would have to serve at least 80 per cent of the term, arguing he had been her sole carer during the offending and that manipulation had been a prevalent factor.

The court heard how the man ignored his daughter’s protests from the very beginning of his offending, which began with touching before escalating to much worse including repeated digital and oral rapes.

When she refused he would “crack the shits and force her to do so”.

She tried her best to resist, including wearing tight pants with the cord tied up to prevent access.

It happened when her mother was at night shift or asleep.

The court heard when her brothers had friends sleep over, he would make her sleep in his room and molest her. He sometimes tried to bribe her with money.

She added how after the offending had been revealed and the man was confronted by his family he held a knife to his throat and also made offensive comments about his young victim “in a final act of humiliation”.

The man, aged in his 40s, pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, with the aggravated circumstance that he unlawfully and indecently dealt with a child and during the course of the relationship he raped the child between 2019 and 2022. He has been in custody on remand for 504 days.

The man’s barrister Scott McLennan tried to push for about 7.5 years, arguing while this offending was serious there was even more terrible levels of this type of conduct – he said his client should also receive a benefit for his admission to police and early guilty plea.

The court heard the man had tried to downplay his offending and lied about the more serious conduct.

A forensic psychologist report, tendered in court, did not point to any factors such as a mental impairment that caused the offending and Ms Ollason said she had “grave concerns that (it) notes the offending to be planned and sexually motivated”.

Mr McLennan said his client had a very traumatic childhood and had never sought any treatment.

Judge Bernard Porter KC said the conduct “can’t be categorised as offending that did not use force to get the young woman to do your will … it involved bribery as well”, and there was “powerful public interest in general deterrence” in terms of the penalty.

“Young people should be able to look to their father for protection, not abuse,” Judge Porter said.

In relation to the offending Judge Porter said notwithstanding the offensive nature of the oral rapes “there is a layer of seriousness which sadly exists above the facts of this case”.

He said had the man been convicted following a trial, violence or further transgressive rapes, the man would have been sentenced to 10 years jail.

But following the guilty plea and other circumstances “this case justifies a head sentence of nine years”.

The man will be eligible for parole on May 7, 2027 after serving four years.

A conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Mackay region man jailed for nine years for raping young daughter