Dad to be sentenced in rape of 13-year-old daughter (Canberra, Australia)

UNNAMED DAD

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/father-raped-daughter-aged-13-20120219-1thg3.html

Father raped daughter, aged 13
February 20, 2012

A young woman whose father forced her to watch porn and repeatedly raped her, has written of her enduring trauma and fear, saying she is afraid of men and cannot sleep with the lights off.

The ACT Supreme Court heard the man began to abuse his daughter from the age of 13, forcing her to have anal sex and watch porn on the home computer.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by the prosecution, the young woman said her father's sexual abuse had split the family and her older sister appeared to resent her for her accusations.

The man, who cannot be named, has pleaded guilty to two counts of incest, two counts of indecency on a child under the age of 16, and one count of using the internet to make porn available to his child.

He has pleaded not guilty to other indecency charges.

At a sentencing hearing last week, the court heard the 45-year-old was arrested in May last year after he told a psychologist about the abuse.

His psychologist contacted police under mandatory reporting requirements because the man still had an underage child living at home.

The court heard the man had approached his daughter in 2010 and asked if her behaviour stemmed from the past abuse.

When she said yes, the man told his wife about the sexual abuse and then sought counselling with the psychologist.

The young woman wrote of her feelings of shame and described her fear of being near men by herself, saying she could not even have sex with her boyfriend due to traumatic flashbacks.

She said she was always worried her father would come to her house or return to exact retribution.

The young woman described abuse that began when she was a child, saying her father would offer to mind her when her mother went out and forced her to share his bed on family holidays.

When she got older and could out-manoeuvre the man, he became controlling and aggressive, banning her from bringing friends home and spying on her text messages.

Justice Hilary Penfold remanded the man in custody until the next sentencing hearing in March.