Judge scathing of Toowoomba man who raped nephew

The boy was aged 12 and 16 when his uncle raped him and then threatened to harm him if he told.

The judge was scathing in his sentencing remarks of the 48-year-old man who pleaded guilty to raping his nephew.

A Toowoomba District Court judge has been scathing in his remarks when sentencing a 48-year-old man who raped his nephew on a number of occasions.

The man, who cannot be named so as to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty to six counts of rape and four counts of indecently treating a child under 16.

The court heard the boy, who was just 12 at the time of the initial offences, had an intellectual disability.

“At the time he (the victim) had an intellectual disability which I suspect you took advantage of,” Judge Ken Barlow QC told the man.

Crown prosecutor Matt Le Grand told the court the first seven offences occurred while the boy was visiting his grandfather’s home in a town west of Toowoomba where the man was also living.

One night he had taken the boy into his bedroom and showed him pornographic images on his mobile phone before committing a series of sexual offences against him despite the boy repeatedly telling him to stop.

The then 41-year-old man threatened the boy he would hurt him if he told anyone, Mr Le Grand said.

The other offences occurred when the boy was 16 and visiting his grandfather’s home.

The teenager had been gardening in the yard when the man approached and ultimately raped him.

When the teenager threatened to tell, the man warned he would ”get people to come after him”, the court heard.

The man was charged in July 2019 but denied the allegations up until what was to be his trial in Toowoomba this week.

He had then entered late pleas of guilty before trial.

By the complainant’s victim impact statement, the offending had a wider impact on the victim and his family, Mr Le Grand said.

Judge Ken Barlow QC was scathing of the man’s denials which had endured up to trial.

“You have expressed no remorse for your conduct whatsoever,” Judge Barlow told him.

“Your breach of trust with your nephew was gross.”

Judge Barlow said that breach of trust also extended to the man’s father and brother, the victim’s father.

Judge Barlow sentenced him to eight and a half years in jail but, declaring 22 months pre-sentence custody as time already served, ordered he be eligible for parole on April 28, 2023, after having served three years and nine months.