Dad who sexually abused daughter has jail term increased (Victoria, Australia)

The excuses these rapist daddies come up with never cease to amaze me. UNNAMED DAD had Asperger's syndrome, so he failed to "process" his daughter's "affective cues"? What a load of horse patootie. Note that Daddy only started to "process" wrong when her mother was out of town, and she was not available to protect her daughter.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fathers-jail-term-increased-in-sex-case-20110405-1d2y1.html

Father's jail term increased in sex case Adrian Lowe
April 6, 2011

A FATHER of two who subjected his 11-year-old daughter to horrific sexual abuse has had his jail term increased after the Court of Appeal found the original sentencing judge incorrectly attributed the offending to Asperger's syndrome.

The father, who cannot be named, abused his daughter for seven months in 2009 when his wife was not home.

When asked why he had abused his daughter in such a way, the father, 47, replied: ''Just as an experiment … it was just sexual gratification for myself'' and conceded that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Advertisement: Story continues below In a unanimous decision yesterday, appeal judges Pamela Tate, Marcia Neave and Philip Mandie ruled that the original sentence of County Court judge Frank Shelton last year of 7½ years' jail, with a minimum of 5½ years, was manifestly inadequate.

The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence on the grounds of manifest inadequacy, error in finding Asperger's syndrome was causally linked to the offending and failure to make appropriate cumulation between the sentences on individual counts.

The father pleaded guilty to five counts of incest and three of committing an indecent act in the presence of a child.

In the lead judgment, Justice Tate described the offending as ''very grave'' and as at the higher end of the scale for such offences. He said a specialist report indicated that those with Asperger's syndrome ''have significant difficulty in processing cues, affective cues'' and that offences they may commit include stalking and assault.

But it was assessed that the father's intelligence would not have been compromised by the syndrome.

In his sentence, Judge Shelton said it was possible that the father could have ''misinterpreted his daughter's cues'' - but the evidence of a psychologist was that the father did not believe his offending had any effect on his daughter.

Justice Tate said the evidence gave little or no support for the proposition that the father misunderstood his daughter's behaviour as providing encouragement to him, and the psychologist's opinion did not allow for a finding that he could have misread the cues.

She said Judge Shelton's conclusion of Asperger's syndrome being causally connected was an error, adding that the sentence was reduced too much in favour of the syndrome. The appeal judges increased the father's sentence to 9½ years, with a minimum of 6½.

Father convicted of murdering 13-year-old son in his bed (Grand Junction, Colorado)

Dad ALLEN GRABE has been convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of his 13-year-old son, who was sleeping at the time of the attack. The jury apparently rejected Dad's insanity plea.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14797173

Father convicted of killing son
Denver Post staff and wire reports
Posted: 04/01/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 04/01/2010 01:10:56 AM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION — A Grand Junction man was convicted Wednesday of killing his 13-year-old son while the boy slept at their home.

A Mesa County jury deliberated for about two hours before convicting Allen Grabe, 53, of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. A judge immediately sentenced Grabe to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The son, Jacob, was a special-needs student being treated for Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder similar to autism. Grabe had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14797173#ixzz0jrcY45P3

Trial set for dad charged in a slaying (Pear Park, Colorado)

The shrinks are arguing as to whether dad ALLEN GRABE was sane when he shot his 13-year-old son to death.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/09/30/100109_3a_Allen_Grabe_folo.html

Trial set for father charged in son’s slaying

By PAUL SHOCKLEY/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A jury trial is set for three weeks in March for a Pear Park man charged in the slaying of his 13-year-old son.

Allen Grabe, 52, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting death of Jacob Grabe, was scheduled Wednesday by District Judge Brian Flynn for trial starting March 22.

The trial setting comes after three separate doctors have reached different conclusions on the question of whether Grabe was legally insane when he shot his son nine times on the night of Sept. 11, 2008.

The findings of Grabe’s most recent sanity evaluation by a doctor with the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo were not discussed in court Wednesday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubinstein told the judge the findings were different from a pair of evaluations in May.

Two doctors, one with the Pueblo state hospital and another hired by Grabe’s public defenders, concluded that Grabe was insane at the time of the shooting.

The doctors, however, gave different reasons for reaching their insanity conclusions.

The state’s evaluation found Grabe knew the difference between right and wrong, but wasn’t able to form the culpable mental state required under Colorado law to commit first-degree murder.

The defense’s doctor concluded Grabe was insane, but for reasons opposite than the state’s findings.

Steve Colvin, Grabe’s public defender, offered no objection in June to a third evaluation of his client’s sanity.

Grabe is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.

In Grabe’s first state evaluation, a doctor wrote that Grabe performed what he believed to be a mercy killing of his son, who had been treated for Asperger’s syndrome, a neurological disorder similar to autism.

Allen Grabe allegedly told his wife he “had to” shoot the boy because, “you were ruining him,” according to an arrest affidavit.