A Darwin father who repeatedly raped, groomed and coercively controlled his underage daughter over a number of months has been sentenced to 21 years in a Northern Territory prison with a non-parole period of 18 years.
Key points:
- The man was sentenced on nine counts, including related to child abuse material and drugs
- Supreme Court Justice Jenny Blokland described his conduct as sadistic
- The court heard the father made an early guilty plea
Many of the details surrounding the case have been suppressed to protect the identities of those involved, including the name of the victim and the father.
The facts of the case were heard in the Supreme Court in Darwin on Wednesday afternoon as the man learned of his fate.
The court heard that the man was living separately from his daughter, who suffered from a language disorder which affected her ability to communicate, but invited her to live with him in Darwin after she spent time in hospital for depression.
When she arrived the father insisted they share his bedroom, despite there being other spare rooms in the house.
The court heard the man told his daughter it was "normal" to have a sexual attraction to her father and sleeping with family members was "common".
In handing down her sentence, Supreme Court Justice Jenny Blokland described the father's conduct as "sadistic" as some of his acts were designed to degrade and humiliate.
"On a number of occasions he provided alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting her," Justice Blokland said.
"On a number of occasions she tried to actively resist him, out of fear of violence she would sometimes freeze.
"Fathers are entrusted to protect their daughters; it is a universal value across generations and cultures.
"That trust was destroyed in a most ruthless way."
Court hears of 'constant debilitating fear'
Sections of the daughter's victim impact statement were read aloud to the court detailing not only the physical harm she endured while she lived with her father, but also isolation, grief and loss.
The statement underscored the psychological and emotional harm suffered from the control he exercised over her and a "constant debilitating fear".
The court heard she often felt suicidal and she had wanted the judge to consider "the lifelong debilitating and detrimental impacts of trauma experienced at the hands of this monster".
Justice Blokland said the young age of the victim as well as "her age relative to his" placed the offending in the upper most range of seriousness.
She added that he knew of her vulnerabilities and he ensured she was isolated.
"The grooming and controlling behaviours involved quite some detailed planning," Justice Blokland said.
"The nature of the grooming was coercive.
"The behaviour in count one was repetitive and across nine months and as indicated involved incidents of a few times a week."
The court heard the man aspired to be a "bikie", had a history of substance abuse and had suffered abuse himself at the hands of his own father, as well as severe physical and sexual abuse by a school friend's father.
The judge said she'd taken into consideration the man's limited criminal history and early guilty plea, but she said the court could not find that he fully understood the gravity of the offending or severe impacts on the victim.
"The court must of course prioritise punishment and community protection [as] he still presents a real risk of reoffending," Justice Blokland said.
The man was also facing drug charges and charges relating to child abuse material.