Dad gets 26 years in prison for sexually abusing 2 daughters; son also abused sister (Henrico County, Viriginia)

UNNAMED DAD has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for sexually abusing his two daughters over more than 20 years. Dad also groomed a son to co-abuse his sister.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/MOLE17_20090716-221003/280460/

Henrico father gets 26 years for sex abuse
By Bill Mckelway
Published: July 17, 2009

Years of sexual abuse that targeted his two daughters have resulted in a 26-year prison sentence for a Henrico County man.

The abuse came to light last year, when the older daughter came forward after learning that her younger sister also had been abused.

Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Wade Kizer said the sentencing Wednesday of the father brings to a close prosecutions in the matter, which lasted more than 20 years and involved a third child, a cousin.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch is not identifying the man, or his son, who also has been convicted in the case, because to do so would identify the victims.

The father pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual battery in an after-hours hearing in February before Circuit Judge Gary A. Hicks.

The father apologized to his older daughter Wednesday but put aside her forgiveness of him, saying that what he did was wrong, according to defense lawyer Shannon Dillon.

The older daughter, now in her late 20s and married with children of her own, has said she was molested repeatedly as a child but didn't come forward until last year, when she learned that a younger sister, then 12, also was being abused.

Kizer said medical testimony showed the father represents an ongoing threat because he engaged in multiple facets of sexual exploitation. Most offenders, according to testimony, tend to confine their abuse to a single form of sexual involvement.

The father faced up to 20 years in prison on each of eight counts; Hicks sentenced him to 26 years of active prison time, about five years above the high end of sentencing guidelines.

The father's adult son, then 24, pleaded guilty in February to three counts of sexual battery of a minor, his younger sister. He was given a suspended three-year sentence. He had been incarcerated since September.

At the time, Kizer attributed the son's activity to his father's influence; the abusive acts by the son apparently were confined to inappropriate touching.