A FATHER who raped his nine-month-old daughter in a home near Bathurst will spend at least 10 years in jail after being sentenced for his role in the assault on Friday.
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The man, 52 - who cannot be identified due to strict non-publication orders in place to protect the identity of the young victim – was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and under authority.
He sat motionless in the dock of the Bathurst District Court during the hour-long sentencing before Judge Lakatos, who jailed the offender for 13 years and eight months with a non-parole period of 10 years and three months. No special circumstances were found.
In sentencing the accused, Judge Lakatos said he was sceptical about the accused’s regret and remorse as described on a number of occasions in a psychiatrist’s report tendered to the court. Judge Lakatos described it as self-serving.
A pre-sentence report submitted to the court also found that the accused had tried to minimise his involvement in the offence.
As he was led out of the court room by Corrective Service officers following the sentencing, the man walked past the victim’s mother but refused to meet her glare, keeping his eyes to the floor as he left the room.
The mother, who also cannot be identified to protect the young girl, read a powerful Victim’s Impact Statement to the court on Wednesday.
The mother told of the profound impact the assault had had on her daughter, saying she would never understand “how a person could be so perverted to want to rape his own nine-month-old child, or any nine-month-old-child, or a daughter of his own of any age”.
She also told the court how her daughter had also been traumatised by the fact she had been taken away from her mother by authorities for a period of time - “ripped out of the only home she knew, and from the only person who would give her unconditional love and comfort”.
The mother said she had been traumatised by the fight to have her child returned to her, and the fact she was treated like a criminal despite committing no crime.
Judge Lakatos said on Wednesday there was nothing in the facts that told him the mother had done anything wrong. He reiterated this on Friday.
Judge Lakatos imposed an aggregate sentence of 13 years and eight months which commenced on July 6, 2016.
The judge specified a non-parole period of 10 years and three months, which will expire on October 5, 2026.