Geelong father jailed for a decade over abuse of teen daughter

A County Court judge has commended the bravery and determination of a young woman who took to the stand to outline the impact abuse at the hands of her selfish, callous father.

A Geelong man has been jailed for at least a decade after pleading guilty to abusing his teenage daughter.

A Geelong father who callously abused his daughter for two years will spend at least a decade behind bars.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, faced the County Court this month, where Judge Michael O’Connell jailed him for a maximum of 14 years and six months, with a non-parole period of 10 years.

The man had pleaded guilty to 17 charges largely relating to six incidents in which he sexually abused his daughter, but the court heard it was part of an “appalling pattern of behaviour” and abuse that went on for two years when the victim was aged 16-18.

Judge O’Connell commended the victim, stating: “it took a great deal of courage and determination for (the victim) to read her victim impact statement to the court”.

“She has been profoundly affected by what you did to her,” he told the man, noting the victim “constantly relives” the abuse and suffers panic attacks.

“It seems likely (the victim) will be struggling to manage the effects of the trauma you put her through for a long time to come,” Judge O’Connell said.

Judge O’Connell noted the victim’s younger sister, who witnessed some of the abuse, “feels completely betrayed by (her father’s) actions”.

Judge O’Connell denounced the man’s offending.

“You regularly, physically and psychologically subordinated your daughter for your own selfish gratification over a period of more than two years,” Judge O’Connell said.

“The trust placed in you by (the victim) and by the community was grossly violated.”

Turning to the man’s personal circumstances, Judge O’Connell told the court the man’s parents separated before his tenth birthday, after his own father was convicted of abusing his older sister.

That abuse had gone on for several years, some of it witnessed by the man.

While his moral culpability was slightly reduced by his deprived upbringing, Judge O’Connell said it “nevertheless remains high”.

“Not only did you know that as (the victim’s) father, that what you were doing was unequivocally wrong, your daughter was a young woman who repeatedly told you to your face it was wrong and that you should not be doing this to her,” Judge O’Connell told the man.

“In spite of her protests, you callously and often aggressively forced yourself on her.”

Judge O’Connell said the man had been diagnosed with several disorders but found that he wasnot persuaded that any of the conditions reduced his moral culpability.

A psychological report said the offending had been influenced by the man’s “sexually permissive and disordered views” and “impaired empathy”.

The psychologist opined the man may have had intimacy and sexual problems, and felt inadequate, but there were “no strong signs” of any paraphiliac interest.

Judge O’Connell accepted the man had shown “some remorse” and might have “positive” prospects of rehabilitation, but said it was a “particularly serious” example of incest.

Without pleading guilty, the man would have faced a maximum of 18 years and six-months behind bars, with a non-parole period of 14 years.

He had 140 days reckoned as time served and must register as a sex offender for life.

Originally published as Geelong father jailed for a decade over abuse of teen daughter