Sydney Father Found Guilty Of Procuring 12-Year-Old Daughter For Sex

A Sydney man, who got his 12-year-old daughter married to a 27-year-old man, was found guilty of "procuring" the young girl for sex with the man more than double her age. The father is also accused of encouraging his daughter into such activities.

The 63-year-old man was convicted of "intentionally procuring a child under 14 for unlawful sexual activity." He was also convicted of "encouraging" and "inciting" the activity. He got his daughter married in an Islamic wedding ceremony. The girl, who is now 14, was found to be pregnant after her husband had been charged early in 2014.

The father, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty as he claimed that he was not in favour of the wedding. He said that he was not aware of the sexual intercourse the married couple apparent had got involved in after getting married. The Sydney man argued that he was not in favour of such a relation between his young daughter and the 27-year-old.

Judge Deborah Sweeney, however, convicted the man on two counts after a two-week judge alone trial in the Downing Centre District Court. The judge said on Wednesday that she did not believe in the father’s arguments.

The judge earlier found that the father had advised the young girl against using contraception on her wedding night. "Having left them to enjoy their wedding night and having advised his daughter not to use contraception, and then making preparations for them to sleep together at his home; the inevitable conclusion is that the accused must have contemplated that they would have sex," Sweeney said, “"His denial is difficult to believe in the circumstances and I do not believe it."

According to earlier court hearings, the father was concerned that his daughter would be interested in boys since she reached puberty. The father also argued that his religion allowed him to get his daughter married at that age.

It was an overseas student, then 26, who met the father at a mosque and told him that he was interested in his daughter. The father exchanged phone numbers and allowed his daughter to have text messaged and phone calls with the man for several weeks. The couple got in to a relationship and expressed their desire to get married, to which the father agreed.

The father did not react after he had been found guilty. He is going to be sentenced on May 29.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au