Paedophile father who complained 22 years’ sentence is ‘excessive’ has appeal rejected

The Perth father who sexually abused his daughter and let other men abused her has had his appeal for shorter sentence rejected. The man, who cannot be named for the protection of his victim, will have to serve his 22-and-a-half-year sentence.

The WA Court of Appeal received the appeal in April. The convicted paedophile’s lawyer said the over two decades of sentence his client had received was “manifestly excessive.” According to lawyer Simon Watters, the man was not given adequate discount for his pleas of guilty to the more than 60 offences against him.

Furthermore, the victim was reluctant to testify against her father, and the evidence of the other men could also have been challenged if the case had gone to trial. Watters believed that his client’s sentence was too much compared to other similar child sex offences cases. According to the defence, the man’s case was not as bad as others that had more than one victim.

On Wednesday, Justice Michael Buss upheld the sentence that was handed in June. The court ruled that the jail term was not excessive. This means that the 42-year-old man would have to serve more than 20 years before he is eligible for parole. Five other men have been jailed for their part in the girl’s abuse.

As for the girl not wanting to give evidence against her father, Buss said that it showed how much power the man had over her. “She remaining loyal to him and she being unwilling to give evidence … shows … the way your client corrupted his daughter for his own paedophilic interests and to get depraved pleasure from seeing her have sex with other men,” he was quoted by Perth Now as saying.

The court heard that the man sexually abused his own daughter for two years when she was just 11 to 13 years old. She was treated as a “sexual object” and even forced to submit to other men. The father arranged for at least five other men to engage his daughter in sexual activities. One of the videos showed the girl tied to a bed while pleading with the men to stop.

The police also noted the father’s callous attitude when he was arrested in 2015. “I’m going to be honest, it was fun while it lasted but it went way over the line,” he apparently said at that time.

Read more:
WA father sentenced to 22 years for raping and pimping out own daughter