Rockhampton man sentenced in court for rape and indecent treatment of child under 16

A Central Queensland mother feels she failed to protect her son after his estranged father preyed upon their child and raped him twice when he was only young. WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT.

A mother has told a Rockhampton court she feels she failed to protect her son after his estranged father preyed upon their child and raped him twice when he was only 9-12 years old.

The defendant, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton District Court on June 8 to two counts of rape, and one count each of indecent treatment of a child under 16, (expose) child under 12 years lineal descendant and indecent treatment of a child under 16 lineal descendant.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said the child victim was 9-12 years old when his biological father sexually offended against him.

Ms Yousufzai said the defendant shared custody of the victim, which led to the victim spending every second weekend with his father.

The victim, who was 9 or 10 years old, was with the defendant in a caravan on a property in the Central Queensland region in 2016 when he saw the defendant with his pants around his ankles and Nutella smeared over his genitalia.

The court heard the defendant encouraged the victim to suck his genitalia, which he refused.

Later that day the victim was lying on a bed when the defendant got behind him and raped him. The defendant only stopped when he was interrupted by the victim’s aunt knocking on the door.

The victim was between 10 and 12 years old when the defendant sexually offended against him again at his house in Rockhampton on an unknown date between 2017 and 2019.

They were alone together when the defendant put on pornography and encouraged the victim to copy the actions of the actors in the video.

The defendant grabbed the victim’s hand and placed it on his genitalia and tried to get him to masturbate him before forcing his genitalia into the victim’s mouth and having the victim masturbate him again.

The defendant told the victim not to tell anyone otherwise they would not be able to see each other.

Ms Yousufzai said the victim provided a statement to police in late 2020.

‘THE GUILT WE FEEL WILL NEVER GO AWAY’

Ms Yousufzai said the victim’s family members were present in the back of the court, including his mother who read a victim impact statement to the court.

The victim’s mother said the offending had affected every single person in the family in so many different ways.

“Every single thing we thought we knew about parenting vanished, out the window,” she said.

“Everything we thought we knew about who we could trust, out the window.

“We now look at each and every person we come into contact with in a very different way.

“We feel we have failed as parents and failed to protect our son.

“The guilt we feel will never go away.”

She said there were so many little clues that were missed.

“We thought we were doing the right thing by encouraging a relationship between a father and son, but it turns out every single second weekend we were handing our baby over to a monster,” she said.

“We thought we could trust him, we thought we were trying to do the right thing and now looking back we feel so much guilt for not listening to (the victim).

“Encouraging that was one of the worst things we have ever done.”

She said the offending had changed everything for the victim.

“Socially, he can’t trust anyone, even us,” she said.

‘CAN’T SLEEP WITHOUT MEDICATION’

“It’s only recently we feel he is starting to trust us again and every single day is a challenge for him.

“He is socially and emotionally delayed because of the trauma of the sexual offending against him.

“He is now obsessed with his body image as he was told by his father he was weak and looked like a girl.

“He spent months sleeping with us because he was fearful of being alone.

“He still has nightmares and can’t sleep without medication.

“He was and is still fearful of his biological father coming to get him.

“We even had to plan a safety route for him to get out of the house and he slept with a golf club for his own protection to try and help with his fears.

“He still can’t be alone in general, he doesn’t even feel safe in his own home.

“His schooling has pretty much been a write-off.

“He has been triggered by male teachers, he has acted out, he has had multiple suspensions.

“His learning and social and emotional development delays have meant he is not able to deal with his feelings and he has trouble concentrating on pretty much anything.

“Even though school is a very big struggle for him he is hoping to get his studies back on track and he does want to complete his education.

“He has had multiple jobs but unfortunately lost them and he may never be able to hold down a job, particularly if he has a male boss.

“We are aware that, along with his developmental delays, this may mean he may never be able to live independently.”

She said the victim had also self-harmed and used drugs to try numb his feelings.

“He said he does this to help him sleep and so he doesn’t have to think about it anymore,” she said.

“He has been diagnosed as displaying dissociative behaviours.

“He is also on medication daily for his anxiety.

“There is so much he now has to do because of what happened to him.

‘HE WILL HAVE TO FIGHT THESE BATTLES FOR LIFE’

“We are just trying to be there for him knowing he will have to fight these battles for the rest of his life.

“In reality how can someone ever get over that their own father did this to them and no punishment for this crime will be the same as what (the victim) has to deal with every day. He will be dealing with this every single day of his life and it’s all due to one person’s horrible selfish behaviour.

“The offender has stolen his youth, he has stolen his first relationship, he has stolen his first sexual experience.

“It’s all stolen from him and he can’t ever get that back.

“This has torn out our hearts and we will never ever get over the feeling of guilt, of being parents who were not able to protect their child and we can never forgive ourselves for that.

“No child deserves this. He is such a good person and the life he was born to live has been stolen from him forever because of one selfish person.

“This is a life sentence he has been given and not by choice.”

Ms Yousufzai said it was the clear the offending had a drastic impact on the victim.

She said the defendant was to be sentenced on May 30 but that did not proceed as he failed to appear.

She said the defendant told police he was unsure if he was going to kill himself or face court for sentencing.

‘OFFENDER HOOKED ON METH’

Defence barrister Julie Marsden said her client had struggled with drug and alcohol addictions all his life.

Ms Marsden said her client was about 10 years old when he started drinking alcohol and that he started smoking drugs around a similar age.

She said her client recently got hooked on methamphetamine and was using ice around the time of the offending after giving up on drugs for about 18 months.

“He hasn’t used it for some time now but people he was working with were heavily into ice and would go on benders,” she said.

“He instructs he never did that when he had the victim in his care but he was certainly using around the time of the offending.”

Ms Marsden said her client hadn’t seen the victim, who was his only child, since he had been charged.

“Prior to that, I am instructed they had a good relationship,” she said.

“The custody arrangements were privately arranged.

“We have taken him through the victim impact statement and he was clearly upset and remorseful of hearing the impact his offending has had, not only on the victim, but on the extended family.”

Ms Marsden said her client was willing to engage in drug and sex offender programs to avoid a repeat of the offending.

PREYED ON SON IN ‘MOST WICKED WAYS’

Judge Jeff Clarke said the defendant preyed upon his son for his own sexual gratification in the “most wicked way”.

“He was sent to stay with you for you to provide him with that sense of connection, love and support and guidance a father should provide to his son,” Judge Clarke said.

“Instead you used that opportunity to betray that trust.

“In my view it was a gross violation of trust which has caused considerable angst to others who feel they placed your son in that predicament.

“They should not feel that way, they are in no way to blame. All blame and guilt starts and finishes with you.

“You have destroyed the victim’s sense of self and his ability to have a happy life.”

Judge Clarke sentenced the defendant to nine years’ prison, seven days pre-sentence custody was declared, and parole eligibility was set for June 1, 2025.

Originally published as Rockhampton man sentenced in court for rape and indecent treatment of child under 16