Eyre Peninsula man sentenced after pleading guilty to sexually abusing teenage girl he later married in 1980s
A teen girl was married off by her parents after they allowed her to be sexually abused – and impregnated – by her adult boyfriend decades ago, a court has heard.
A 15-year-old girl was sexually abused by her adult boyfriend, impregnated, and married off by her parents, who were then convicted of unrelated child sex offences more than 30 years later, a court has heard.
An Eyre Peninsula man, who cannot legally be identified, was sentenced in the District Court for last week after pleading guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse relating to offences dating back to 1988.
The man, now in his 50s, made “full admissions” to sex with his now-ex-wife when she was just a teenager – who found herself “a pregnant, married child at the age of 15 living on a farm away from her family”, the court heard.
Judge Carmen Matteo found the relationship wasn’t one of force or coercion, despite the court hearing the victim would “scream” during sex at first.
In a statement provided to the court, the victim said her cries for help during the offending went unanswered by her parents.
“I would scream whenever (the defendant) was having sex with me,” she wrote.
“I was telling him to stop stop stop and nobody was coming.
“My parents must have heard, they just didn’t care. After about a month I just stopped screaming, I gave up and just let him get on with it.”
However, after considering the man’s “fulsome” evidence, Judge Matteo said she found it “very difficult” to place much weight on the victim’s allegations.
“I am not satisfied that you forced (the victim) in the manner she alleges,” she said.
“I accept that you believed yourself to be in a reciprocated boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with (the victim) and, in that context, that you believed her to be a willing participant in the acts of sexual intercourse.
“You believed yourself to be essentially courting a young girl with the apparent approval of her family and your own. I do not accept that you forced or coerced the victim to have sexual intercourse with you.”
Judge Matteo acknowledged the marriage, orchestrated by both sets of parents, was “entirely responsive to her pregnancy”,
“She says that your family organised the wedding and that she felt as though her parents wanted to be rid of her,” Judge Matteo said.
“It is necessary to mention that your former in-laws, (your victim’s) parents, have been convicted of child sexual offences against a number of female victims. One of those victims is your current wife.”
The man was reported to police in 2021 and, in 2023, entered a guilty plea at his first court appearance.
In March this year, he pleaded guilty to a second charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.
Last week, Judge Matteo sentenced the man to two years imprisonment with a non-parole period of one year – suspended upon entering into a 12 month good behaviour bond.
It comes after the Eyre Peninsula was rocked over shock revelations a couple had been jailed for the “vile” sexual abuse they inflicted on two young girls working at their family bakery in the 1980s.
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Originally published as Eyre Peninsula man sentenced after pleading guilty to sexually abusing teenage girl he later married in 1980s
