By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A 72-year-old man has been jailed for the “heinous” and “cruel” sexual abuse of his nine-year-old step-daughter in the Noble Park family home four decades ago.
The man, who Star Journal won’t name so to not identify the victim, was found guilty by a Victorian County Court jury of incest and carnal knowledge of a girl under 10.
After the first act of abuse in late 1980, he threatened the girl that he’d kill her and her mother if she told anyone.
The victim believed he’d carry out the threat. He had often beaten her with a wooden stick and seen him inflict domestic violence on her mother, she said.
The victim claimed she was frequently molested by the accused until she was 12.
He stopped after she informed him she got her period.
In sentencing on 22 October, judge Liz Gaynor noted the since re-married man had shown “not a shred of remorse” and maintained his claims of innocence.
He and his legal counsel subjected the traumatised victim, the mother and his daughter to days of cross-examination.
Judge Gaynor said they were credible, reliable witnesses who stoically withstood accusations of dishonesty and fabrication.
They had endured years of anguish and suffering due to his “heinous sexual offences against a child left in your care”.
“You may have gone on to live an exemplary and happy life in the years since offending so grievously against your young step-daughter,” Judge Gaynor told the man.
“But you’ve left a trail of destruction in your wake.
“The offending was a gross and cruel breach of trust and the utter exploitation of a little girl in order to satisfy your sexual desires.”
The victim suffered severe mental illness, including complex post-trauma, nightmares of being trapped with the man, anxiety and depression.
She stated to the court she was unable to be a loving parent, which she called the “most devastating impact of all”.
Judge Gaynor said the man had no relevant prior convictions and had never been in custody. She aceepted he was no longer a danger to society.
He would suffer more in jail as a man of his age.
The man was jailed for up to eight years. He’ll be eligible for parole after six years.
The term includes 190 days in pre-sentence custody.
He will be a registered sexual offender for life.
